It took longer than they would have liked, but it happened, the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team picked up their historic first OUA regular season win Friday night over the Algoma Thunderbirds.

Thanks to a fantastic start and some hot shooting, the Lakers put together a complete 40-minute effort on their way to a 71-56 victory to break their early season struggles.

Nipissing started things off with a bang, outscoring the Thunderbirds 20-8 to build up a solid lead in the first quarter.

Algoma pushed back, but Nipissing still took a 39-25 lead into halftime.

With a solid lead, the Lakers slowly extended things in the third quarter and led 57-41 after three, which was enough cushion to cruise to the win.

In the final quarter, Algoma attempted a comeback, but thanks to solid defence and a few key shots, Nipissing held on for the victory.

The Lakers offence clicked all night, led by a huge night – a historic night – by Marcus Lewis who scored 25 points and added 20 rebounds.

Marvin Ngonadi added 17 points and Wil Konybai picked up 11 for Nipissing.

All five starters had a strong game, playing over 20 minutes and all recorded at least a handful of points.

The Lakers finish the first half of the year on a high note and will be back on the court in 2016.