To say it was a pretty victory may be a stretch, but at the end of the day, the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team are on a two game winning streak.

After finishing the first half with a win over Algoma, the Lakers opened up the second half of the season with a victory over their other northern rivals, the Laurentian Voyageurs.

Thanks to a big second quarter, where the Lakers took the lead and built on it, Nipissing battled to an 84-73 triumph.

After trailing 15-14 after the opening 10 minutes, the Lakers exploded in the second period, outscoring the Vees 27-10, as they built up a 16 points advantage at the half.

Laurentian closed the gap in both the third and fourth, outscoring Nipissing 48-43, but it was too little, too late as the Lakers held on.

Nipissing had four players hit double digits in scoring, led by Marcus Lewis who posted 25 points.

After just three points in the first half, Marvin Ngonadi had a huge second half, scoring 12 points, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Kalil Langston added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Joey Puddister put up 13 points.

The Lakers were strong on the boards, grabbing 40 rebounds, seven more than the Voyageurs.

On the offence, the Lakers were able to spread the ball around well, finishing with 15 assists, once again, more than their opponents from Sudbury.

Saturday's victory was the first in a stretch of five straight home games, which continues this weekend as Laurier and Waterloo make their way north to battle the Lakers.

Laurier enters the weekend with a record of 4-5 and have lost four straight, including a 105-81 defeat this past weekend against McMaster.

Waterloo has just one win to show for this season, defeating York earlier in the year.

They are currently on a three game losing streak and has an overall record of 1-8 entering the weekend, where they face Laurentian Friday and Nipissing Saturday.

Game times for both matchups this weekend are set for 8 p.m. at the RJS Athletic Centre.