While there have been plenty of positives for the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team early in the season, they are still coming up short when the final buzzer ends.

The Lakers suffered their fifth straight loss to start the season Friday night in Thunder Bay, as the Lakehead Thunderwolves handed Nipissing a 75-63 loss.

Nipissing received big games from a trio of players, but were outscored each quarter except the fourth, but they didn't have enough left to mount a comeback and claim the victory.

The Lakers trailed by only three after the first and were down just nine at halftime, but in the second half, they couldn't go on a run to truly close the gap and the Thunderwolves continued to pull away.

Still trailing after three quarters, Nipissing did manage to outscore the Thunderwolves 21-20 in the final 10 minutes of play, but it was too little too late at that point.

Marcus Lewis had his best game of the year, putting up 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Jordon Campbell had a team-high 18 and Marvin Ngonadi put up 16 points of his own.

The Lakers will look to rebound Saturday night when they remain on the road and face the Guelph Gryphons.

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.