Washington, DC—James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III poured in 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half but it was not enough to offset the scoring of Trotce Manassa and Kamil Williams who combined for 21 second half points as Savannah State (11-13, 7-6 in the MEAC) defeated Howard, 66-56 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at Burr Gymnasium. 

Daniel, the nation's leading scorer at 27.9 points per game, was honored in the pregame for becoming the leading scorer in school history with 1,755 points.  He tried his best to rally his team from a double-digit second half deficit, but each time the Bison cut into the lead, Manassa and Williams responded. 

Manassa was three of six from the field in the second stanza while Williams came off the bench to connect on all four of his shots, including three of five from beyond the arc. 

With Daniel leading the way, the Bison (11-16, 5-7 in the MEAC) used a 13-6 run midway through the second half to cut the deficit to 40-37 at the 11:20 mark. 

Then Williams and Manassa scored three trifectas between them over a three-minute stretch to open a 49-37 lead at the eight-minute mark. 

The Bison tried desperately to cut into the deficit, but each time Williams and Manassa came up with plays. 

After missing all of his shots in the first half, Daniel came alive in the second, hitting on 5 of 10 shots from the field and seven of eight from the charity stripe. But the Bison got little from the rest of the players as no one else reached double figures. 

Marcel Boyd and Tyler Stone each had eight and 14 rebounds between them. 

Williams finished with 17 and Manassa and Christopher Martin scored 16 apiece. 

This game was the ultimate test to see who would impose its will. Howard came into the game as the MEAC's top offensive team, averaging 74 points per game. Savannah State, on the other hand, is the conference's best defensive team, limiting opponents to 69 points per contest. The Bison like to speed up the game and get out in transition. The Tigers used every second of the shot clock. 

The Bison had another outstanding game at the foul line, hitting on 18 of 19 for 95 percent. They also had a huge advantage in the paint. But they hurt themselves with mistakes (25 turnovers) and their bench was outscored, 26-9. 

NEXT UP: Howard will try to get back on the winning track when it hosts South Carolina State on Monday at 7:30 pm in Burr Gymnasium.