Five Mega Millions lottery tickets bought in the Southland hit five of the winning numbers in last night's drawing for a prize of nearly $298,000.

But nobody guessed the correct Mega number to take home the top prize, boosting the jackpot to $304 million for Friday's drawing.

Two of the tickets were bought in Los Angeles County -- at Welcome Books & Gifts at 1611 S. Azusa Ave. in Hacienda Heights, and a 7-Eleven at 2251 W. Rosecrans Ave. in Compton.

A third was purchased in Orange County at a 7-Eleven at 103 Brookhurst St. in Anaheim.

The other tickets were purchased in San Diego and Thousand Oaks.

They all had the numbers 1, 14, 35, 50 and 53 -- and only missed the Mega number 43.

The jackpot continued to grow since no one hit all six numbers. On Friday, the total will be $304 million, the sixth largest in the history of the game.