FAIRFAX, Va. – A 6-0 spurt by George Mason in the closing minutes proved costly for the Toledo men's basketball team in its 80-73 defeat to the Patriots (5-4) on Saturday afternoon in EagleBank Arena.

Senior JT Shumate tied the score at 65-65 with 2:52 remaining, but GMU scored six straight points to take a 71-65 advantage with 1:22 left. The Rockets were able to close within three points on two occasions, however, the Patriots made six straight free throws in the final 28 seconds to secure the victory.

"I hate losing but it was a great college basketball game with two teams playing hard and playing the right way in a physical game," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We didn't make enough plays down the stretch to come away with the win. We wanted to be battle-tested for conference play and this game will do that. George Mason is a big, athletic team and we battled hard against them."

Shumate and Setric Millner Jr. led the Rockets offensively with 20 and 16 points, respectively. Junior RayJ Dennis joined them in double figures with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

Millner joined Dennis as the team's leading rebounder, but George Mason managed a slight 37-36 advantage on the glass.

Sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. led the Rockets with four steals to help UT force 15 GMU turnovers.

DeVon Cooper paced the Patriots with 19 points, hitting 8-of-12 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

The Patriots shot 50.9 percent from the field and 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range. Toledo was limited to a 40.9 shooting mark, including a season-low 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) from behind the arc.

The Rockets will have a quick turnaround and return to the road on Tuesday, Dec. 6 with a trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face Northern Iowa (3-4, 1-1 MVC).  Tip-off time is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo started quickly and grabbed a 9-1 lead with Setric Millner Jr.'s five points leading the way.
• Dante Maddox Jr.'s three-pointer extended UT's lead to 15-6 with 14:23 left in the first half for the Rockets' largest advantage of the day.
• The Patriots put together a 9-0 run to take their first lead, 28-25, with 5:16 remaining before halftime.
• Baskets from RayJ Dennis and Tyler Cochran put Toledo back in front, 29-28, just over a minute later.
• George Mason followed with seven straight points until Andre Lorentsson hit a three-pointer to leave the Rockets with a 35-32 deficit at intermission.
• Millner led Toledo in the opening 20 minutes with seven points with Dennis and Shumate contributing six points apiece.

SECOND HALF

• Ra'Heim Moss' three-point play cut the Patriots' lead to 42-41 less than four minutes after halftime.
• The Patriots pushed their lead back to five, but Tyler Cochran's turnaround jumper brought the Rockets within a point again, 50-49, at the 10:19 mark.
• GMU continued to hold Toledo off by taking another five-point lead until Millner's three-point play evened the score at 58-58 with 5:53 left.
• The teams then exchanged three-pointers on the next two possessions, and Millner's layup tied the score at 63-63 with 3:52 remaining.
• DeVon Cooper gave the Patriots back the lead, 65-63, but Shumate buried two free throws to knot the score at the 2:52 mark.
• George Mason followed with a 6-0 run, and Toledo couldn't come closer than three points down the stretch.
• Shumate topped the Rockets in the second half with 14 points.