The San Diego State men’s basketball team fell to Grand Canyon University as they were defeated 79-73 in front of an exhilarated, rowdy crowd at GCU Arena.

Senior forward Jaedon LeDee recorded a double-double, finishing with a game-high of 24 points to go along with ten rebounds. Senior guard Darrion Trammell chipped in 11 points off the bench for the Aztecs.

The Aztecs’ first bucket came from LeDee as he made a layup off an assist from senior guard Lamont Butler.

A few possessions later, Butler found sophomore forward Elijah Saunders open for a 3-pointer. Butler dished out a game-high six assists.

SDSU’s offense started off 2-of-11 from the field and trailed the Lopes 11-6 early.

Halfway through the first half, the Aztecs went on an 11-3 run, which was finished off by a jump shot by LeDee as the Aztecs took their first lead of the contest.

Senior guard Micah Parrish got into the action; he drained a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Aztecs close to the Lopes.

However, the Aztecs did not close the first half strong. They went scoreless in the final 2:54 of the first half and the Lopes took a 7-point lead, heading to the break.

Out of intermission, LeDee banked in a shot as he was clobbered under the rim. LeDee converted the free throw to complete the 3-point play.

Next offensive possession, Butler nearly lost the basketball and had to chase it in the backcourt. Butler sprinted back up the floor, drove and kicked to LeDee on the strong side of the floor for a 3-pointer.

Then, Lopes defense started to show the Aztecs a zone. Facing the zone, junior guard Reese Waters took and made a dribble pull-up midrange shot to cut the lead to 37-36.

With 15:54 to play, Micah Parrish stole the basketball on an entry pass to the post. The Aztecs capitalized off the turnover as Waters swished a 3-pointer from the corner to put SDSU back in front.

Following a 3-point basket by the Lopes, LeDee was fronted by his defender, and Butler made a pass over the top of the defender to locate LeDee for the flush.

The Aztecs continued to generate buckets. With five seconds left on the shot clock, Butler attacked the Lopes’ drop coverage and drilled a mid-range jump shot.

With 11:48 to go, Parrish pump-faked a shot as a defender flew by him and drained a 3-pointer to stay within two points.

A few possessions later, Trammell clanked a 3-pointer but sophomore guard Miles Byrd hit the offensive glass and got the soft roll for the putback.

Trailing by six, Butler slid his feet on defensively and came up with a steal that led to senior forward Jay Pal hitting a layup off the glass in transition.

Then, the Lopes responded with an 11-2 run in which leading scorer Tyon Grant-Foster hit back-to-back triples.

Inside two minutes to play, the Aztecs were forced to play the foul game down nine. Butler would foul out of the game.

The Lopes continued to knock down free throws, but Trammell made things interesting as he hit a side-step 3-pointer with 27 seconds to play.

Following a made free throw by the Lopes, LeDee grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback to cut it back down to five.

On the inbounds, Trammell stole the basketball in the corner, but he gave the basketball right back to the Lopes as he was falling out of bounds.

Grant-Foster iced the game with a made free throw to put the Lopes up six with under 10 seconds to play and the Aztecs were handed their second defeat of the season.

Despite only committing six turnovers, it was the perimeter shooting that hurt SDSU. They made just eight 3-pointers on 25 attempts. Four Lopes finished in double-digit scoring.

The Aztecs will look to bounce back against UC Irvine at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 at Viejas Arena.