A tough ending to a strong outing saw the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball come out on the wrong end of a close game Friday night.

The Toronto Varsity Blues caught fire down the stretch and found their range from beyond the arc to take home a 62-58 victory over the Lakers at the RJS Athletic Centre.

A low scoring opening quarter saw Toronto finish with a 13-11 advantage, but the second quarter was a different story.

Nipissing started to heat up in the second and gained the lead, 32-22, heading into halftime.

A monster second half, led by a big third quarter pushed Toronto to regain the lead.

The Blues outscored Nipissing 21-12 in the third quarter and closed their deficit to a single point, as Nipissing held a 44-43 advantage.

Toronto pushed the pace and outscored the Lakers in the final quarter 19-14 to walk away with the win, 62-58.

Leading the way offensively was Jaaden Lewis who had 15 points, Marcus Lewis had 14 points and 11 rebuonds, Marvin Ngonadi added 11 and Ismael Kaba chipped in with 10 points in tonight's game.

Nipissing is back in action Saturday night when they face the Ryerson Rams at 8pm.