The Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team put together a strong effort, but fell short Friday, so they looked to finish the weekend strong Saturday at home.

Facing the Toronto Varsity Blues, who came away with a win in their contest Friday against Laurentian, the Lakers were looking for a better result.

And they got exactly that.

The Lakers put together a gritty effort and came away with a 73-67 win to finish the weekend with a split.

Nipissing came out strong, building an early lead and finishing the opening quarter up 26-15.

Toronto did reply in the second, closing the gap by four points, outscoring Nipissing 21-17 to close out the half.

Nipissing did hold on to the advantage after 20 minutes, however, 43-26.

In the third, the Lakers continued to play strong and aggressive defence and managed to add to their lead.

Holding a lead, the Lakers allowed Toronto back into the game late in the fourth, but held on, grabbing a six-point victory.

Darnaz Mabanza led the Lakers with 20 points, Alvin Icyogere had 19, Alex Blackmore added 15 and Ricardo Neves chipped in with 11 in the win.

Next weekend, Nipissing travels to play the Guelph Gryphons Friday night before returning home to face the Brock Badgers Sunday afternoon.