A night after an outstanding effort, the Nipissing Lakers men's basketball team was back on the court Saturday night.

The Lakers fell short against the Carleton Ravens, but performed very well and deserved a better fate at the end of the day.

Saturday, the Ottawa Gee Gees were the opponents, with the Lakers looking to reverse their fortunes.

For a second straight night, the Lakers weren't rewarded for their strong, complete effort as they dropped an 84-66 decision to the Gee Gees.

An early deficit saw the Lakers down 12-7 midway through the first and trailing 27-19 after one.

A big second quarter, where the Lakers outscored Ottawa 23-19, allowed them to climb back into the contest.

At the halftime break, Nipissing was down just four points, 46-42.

In the third, the Lakers stumbled and were outscored 18-5, going down 64-47 after 30 minutes of play.

Nipissing was unable to cut into the lead in the fourth despite picking up the pace.

Ottawa added a single point to their lead and came away with the victory, sneaking past the Lakers.

Darnaz Mabanza led the Lakers with 14, Alex Blackmore added 13 and Ricardo Neves chipped in with 12 in the contest.

Nipissing hits the road next weekend for a rematch against the Ravens and Gee Gees, heading to Ottawa for a pair of road games.