North Bay, ON – Nipissing Men's Basketball suffered a tough loss at home to the Guelph Gryphons 88-66 on Friday, Jan. 30 at RJS Athletic Centre. 

Guelph outscored Nipissing 19-15 in the first quarter, leading 16-6 before the Lakers woke up and got into the game, scoring nine points to end the quarter down by four.  

In the second, Guelph's three-point shooting allowed the Gryphons to build a sizeable lead that grew to 19. Guelph outscored Nipissing 24-12 and led 43-27 at halftime.  

In the third, Guelph continued to control the flow of the game, outscoring Nipissing 25-21 in the quarter. The Lakers did their best to stay in the game with Guelph and fight back. 

Guelph's lead was 20 entering the fourth quarter, where they scored 20 to Nipissing's 18. Nipissing kept pace with Guelph in this quarter well, but the Gryphons' lead proved to be too mighty as 88-66 for Guelph was the final score. 

Nipissing's Jeziyah Excell-Johnson led the Lakers with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Chris-Evrard Malonga scored 11 and added 6 rebounds and 1 block. Jean Rene Brutus Escalona scored 11 and added 1 assist. Alex Blackmore scored 10 points and had 5 rebounds and 1 block. Doug Awusu scored 8 points and added 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 1 steal. 

The loss moves Nipissing to 6-12 this season. Men's Basketball is back in action Friday, Feb. 6 at 8PM on the road at Queen's. Catch the action live on OUA.tv. 

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