WINONA, MINN. - Despite a game-high 26 points by Marquise Carrington, the third-seeded Metro State Roadrunners lost 70- 68 to No. 2 seed Minnesota State- Mankato in the NCAA North Central Region men's basketball tournament Sunday at McCown Gymnasium.

Minnesota State Mankato outscored Metro 24-11 at the free- throw line in a tight game in which neither team led by more than eight points, and there were seven ties.

Metro State got its first and only lead early in the second half, 40-39, with 16:41 remaining on a Carrington three-pointer. The score was tied at 55 with 5:52 to play, but Minnesota State-Mankato went on an 8-2 run to take a 63-53 advantage with 2:41 to go.

The Roadrunners fought back, trailing 63-62 with 1:38 remaining on a Terrell Burgess three. The Mavericks scored four straight points to lead 67-63 then went 4- for-7 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal it.

Carrington, who had four assists, scored 17 first-half points, and Burgess and Benas Veikalas each had 11 points.

Jake Morrow led Minnesota State-Mankato with 18 points.

METRO STATE (28-4) - Bahl 4-8 0-0 9, Wagstaff 2-4 0-0 4, Coulibaly 1-2 3-4 5, Carrington 9-18 6-9 26, Burgess 4-9 0-0 11, Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Veikalas 4-5 2-2 11, Price 1-1 0-0 2, Bass 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 11-15 68.

MINNESOTA STATE-MANKATO (28-4) - Anderson 2-11 3-6 7, Santos 4-7 9-10 17, Morrow 6-13 3-4 18, Thomason 4-8 1-2 11, Kyles 2-5 8-10 12, Winder 1-1 0-0 2, Clark 1-1 0-0 3, Gosson 0-1 0-0 0, Greeley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 24-32 70.

Three-point goals - MS, Burgess 3, Carrington 2, Bahl, Veikalas; MSM, Morrow 3, Thomason 2, Clark.