It was by far the best effort the Nipissing Lakers have had this year – exhibition included – and maybe in their three year history.

But at the end of the day, the visiting Windsor Lancers escaped North Bay with a 76-73 over the Lakers, spoiling what should have been a historic win for Nipissing.

Marcus Lewis, Justin Shaver and Ismael Kaba all hit double digits, leading Nipissing, while seven different Lakers scored at least a basket.

After the teams traded baskets early in the game, the Lakers took over the first quarter towards the end, going on a bit of a run to give themselves a 23-20 edge after the opening 10 minutes, capped off by a Lewis layup.

The second quarter mirrored the first, as Nipissing used some strong shooting and tough defence down the stretch to come away with a 20-17 advantage, building up a 43-37 lead at the break.

Windsor slowly began to climb back into the game in the third quarter, getting big stops, as well as clutch baskets as they cut the deficit by one point thanks to a 20-19 advantage in the third.

With Nipissing up 62-57 after three, they just needed to keep the Lancers from getting hot.

And while they did for the most part, Windsor did enough to cut the gap and take the lead with 4:05 left.

The teams traded leads from that point on until the Lakers went up 74-73 and held on late to pick up the three point win.

Lewis posted 21 points to lead the Lakers, while Kaba had 19, playing one of his best games during his time with Nipissing.

Shaver had a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Lakers will look to bounce back after a tough loss Saturday night when they host the Western Mustangs, who fell to Laurentian Friday night.

Game time is set for 8pm at the RJS Athletic Centre.