It was another slow start and early deficit that caused the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball trouble Saturday night.

The Lakers trailed 21-12 after the first quarter and 35-22 at halftime and couldn't recover, dropping their second straight game 72-56 to the Ottawa Gee Gees in the Nation's Capital.

Nipissing fought hard throughout and kept the game close, but the deficit was too much to come back from, as they only managed to put a dent into their deficit in the third quarter, where they outscored Ottawa 19-17.

Down 52-41 entering the fourth quarter, the game was far from out of reach, but the veteran and division-leading Gee Gees put the game away and kept the Lakers on their heels.

Ottawa put up 20 in the fourth to seal the win, while Nipissing was only able to manage 15 as their attempted comeback fell short.

On a positive note, the Lakers hung with one of the country's top teams and will build off the game as they move to next weekend action against Laurentian.

Justin Shaver had a big game, with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Marcus Lewis added 15 for Nipissing.

The Lakers face their divisional and northern rivals Friday in their lone game of the weekend in Sudbury.