CHARLESTON, S.C. –  A tip-in by Erik Copes with one second remaining in regulation led George Mason past host College of Charleston, 78-77, in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Buick on Tuesday night at TD Arena.

The Cougars (24-11) had led by as many as six in the final two-minute stretch, 77-71, on a three-pointer by senior point guard Andrew Lawrence with 1:48 left to go.

The Patriots (19-14) went on a 7-0 run thereafter to advance to next week’s quarterfinal round against Texas or Houston. Jonathan Arledge made a layup at 1:31 and Bryon Allen knocked down a three-pointer at 1:24 which proved to be the difference down the stretch.

George Mason led by as many as 13 in the first half, but the Cougars managed to cut it down to single digits at halftime, 44-36. Sophomore Anthony Stitt was on fire in the second half as he provided a game-changing three-pointer with 11:43 on the clock to give CofC the 57-55 advantage.

Stitt scored 19 of his game-high 21 points converting on 5-of-7 from long range in the contest. Sophomore big man Adjehi Baru added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Lawrence had 14 and junior Trent Wiedeman with 11.

CofC played without the services of redshirt junior forward Willis Hall, who suffered a season-ending injury over the weekend in practice. He had played in all 34 games of the season leading up to the CBI and is out with a broken right foot.

For the game, the Cougars had a sound game shooting 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the floor and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-21), but the difference maker was 13 turnovers in which the Patriots converted into 29 of their final 78 points.