Box Score The Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team truly left it all on the court this weekend.

Short-staffed and missing a few key players, the Lakers put up a fight both Friday and Saturday night.

Friday, they suffered a tough loss and Saturday, they came up short, falling 84-77.

In the opening quarter Saturday, the Gaels ended up ahead by two, but it was a very evenly played 10 minutes.

At the buzzer, Queen's led 21-19.

They extended their lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Lakers by five, 23-18 and took a 44-37 advantage into the halftime break.

The Lakers came out of the dressing room on a mission and caught fire in the third quarter.

Nipissing scored 26 points to erase a seven point deficit and pulled ahead, finishing the third up 63-60.

Early in the fourth, the Gaels tied the game and with seven minutes left on the clock, the score was even at 65-65.

Queen's was able to wrestle away the lead, going up 71-66 with just under five minutes left in regulation time.

The teams traded free throws for the most part down the stretch, with Nipissing on the short end of things.

In the end, the Gaels sealed the win with a big fourth quarter, outscoring Nipissing by 10, 24-14, on their way to the seven point win.

Nathan Riley had a big game with 18 points and nine rebounds, Jack Hagerty had 17 points and Danny Lukusa scored 16.

David Bokanaga was one point away from a double-double, scoring nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers host the powerful Ottawa Gee Gees next weekend for a pair of games – Friday night and Saturday afternoon.