LOGAN, Utah,- Another tight game, another close loss for the CSUB Roadrunners who fell 53-49 Friday night to South Dakota State in the second game of the World Vision Classic hosted by Utah State.

A night after losing 57-56 to host Utah State, the Roadrunners overcame a four-point halftime deficit to lead by as many as five points late in the second half, but after failing to score during a five-minute stretch with just over six minutes to play, the Jackrabbits converted on a pair of shots inside the final two minutes, taking advantage of a late CSUB turnover in the process to send the 'Runners to their sixth-straight loss.

“Late there we didn't execute, we ran several plays that guys kind of in a different position and we just didn't execute,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “Turnovers were really key for us and we had a few shots that weren't very good shots and I thought we got a little timid on offense with about two or three minutes to go.”

It was the seventh time this season CSUB has lost a game by less than five points and the ninth time losing by less than seven.

“This team has done a really good job of fighting, playing hard, staying together and they (South Dakota State) has a really good team and they're going to well in their league,” Barnes said. “We're not playing a bunch of teams that won't be good in their league but we got ourselves in that position again and didn't go finish.”

CSUB got off to a hot start feeding Aly Ahmed (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt, Midland CC) for 10 of their first 13 points before Ahmed was limited with first half foul trouble. The Jackrabbits were able to limit his touches in the second half as he scored five more and finished with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

One of Ahmed's misses came during CSUB's scoreless drought where they were 0-of-7 from the field. CSUB also turned the ball over with the game tied at 46 with 2:12 to play which set up a go-ahead free throw for South Dakota State.

The Roadrunners missed their next shot before the Jackrabbits took a three-point lead with 1:19 to play on a Cody Larson layup and foul on Ahmed. Larson missed the free throw but managed to block the 'Runners shot on the next possession attempted by Tyrell Corbin (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake CC) driving in the lane. Trailing by two points with 45 seconds to play the 'Runners attempted a defensive stand to set up the game-tying possession, but Deondre Parks managed to work through the defense to score on a layup with 13 seconds left.

Dashawn Richmond (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y., Broward CC) knocked down a three-point with four seconds left and the 'Runners fouled Jake Bittle on the next possession but Bittle made both free throws to send the 'Runners to another close loss.

CSUB continues to search for a better shooting performance from the field as they managed 16-of-46 for 35% in the loss while knocking down only 5-of-17 from three-point range.

Florida transfer George Marshall, playing in just his second game with South Dakota State scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-15 from the field. Marshall scored five-straight points to erase CSUB's five-point lead with six minutes remaining while going 4-of-9 from three-point range.

The 'Runners limited the Jackrabbits to just 35% from the field (19-of-54) but gave up 10 three-pointers (10-of-28), three of which came off offensive rebounds for South Dakota State.

CSUB will look to snap their six-game losing streak Saturday evening in their final game at the World Vision Classic as they take on Idaho State at 4:30 PM (PT). That game can be heard on Newstalk 1180 and 96.1 FM KERN beginning at 4 PM with the Dignity Health Pregame Show.