SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The George Mason University men's basketball team nearly erased an 11-point deficit but couldn't finish the comeback, falling 80-76 to South Dakota State Wednesday night in the Sanford Pentagon.
 
Mason led 51-44 with under 13 minutes to go, but SDSU put together a critical 16-2 run to build a lead it would not relinquish.

"This was a great college basketball game in a great road environment," head coach Kim English said. "It was our third road game in our last five. I love our group. They keep competing and they keep doing what we ask. They stick together down and up."
 
Graduate student D'Shawn Schwartz led Mason with a career-best 29 points (12-20 FG) to go along with four rebounds and three assists.
 
Junior Josh Oduro added 20 points (8-11 FG) and seven rebounds. For his outstanding efforts at the Crossover Classic, he was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the game.
 
Graduate student DeVon Cooper registered 15 points and dished out a season-best six assists in 38 minutes on the floor.
 
The Jackrabbits shot 54.9 percent from the floor, including a 10-of-20 mark from 3-point range (.500).
 
Mason also hit the 50 percent mark for the game (30-60), but converted at a 33.3 percent clip (8-24) from beyond the arc. Mason also made good on its point of emphasis to limit turnovers while committing just eight in the game.
 
The Jackrabbits held a sizable 23-8 edge in free throw attempts in the game which led to a +6 edge in points from the charity stripe.
 
The teams played to an 8-8 tie, before SDSU rattled off six straight to build a 14-8 advantage. A Hartwell II 3-pointer cut the lead to four (17-13), but at that point, the Jackrabbits went on a 7-0 run to build a 24-13 edge.
 
SDSU led 35-26 with 3:28 left in the stanza, but Mason closed the half on a 6-0 spurt – highlighted by a long Cooper 2-pointer to beat the buzzer. The Jackrabbits entered the half up three (35-32).
 
Mason rocketed out of the gate in the second half and stretched the run to 14-0 to take a 40-35 edge. SDSU tied it up at 42-42, but from there, Mason responded with a 9-2 run to go up 51-44 at the 12:44 mark.
 
From there, Mason could only convert one field goal in the next seven minutes, as the Jackrabbits utilized a 16-2 run to build a 60-53 advantage. The Patriots moved back within four (62-58) on free throws from Oduro, but another 6-0 spurt from the Jackrabbits put them up 10 (68-58) with 3:22 to go.
 
Mason cut it to four (75-71) with 22 seconds left, but SDSU made its free throws to close out the game.

"Our guys are getting better," English added. "It's unfortunate that with this part of the schedule we've played eight games in 16 days. With that type of stretch you have to rely on your habits. We're still building our program;There are absolutely some positives to take from this week."

The Patriots now will take a nine-day break before returning to action on Dec. 4 vs. Old Dominion in Fairfax. The 7 p.m. contest will be televised regionally on MASN and broadcast nationally via ESPN+.