NORTH BAY, Ont. - Saturday night in North Bay, the Gryphons men's basketball team suffered an 84-78 loss to the Nipissing Lakers. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 2-7 while the Lakers improve to 4-3.

After trailing by 15 points at the half, the Gryphons would strom back in the 2nd half, trimming the deficit to just two after Daniel Dooley's layup with 2:36 remaining in the 4th quarter made it a 75-73 game. The Lakers would manage to fend off the Gryphon comeback, thanks in part to a crucial offensive rebound and putback from Jaaden Lewis with :19 seconds remaining that pushed the Nipissing lead back to four.

The Gryphons, who shot a season-best 47% from the field on the evening and 60% from the field in the 2nd half, were unable to come up with key stops when they needed them, as the Lakers finished the night shooting 54% as a team. Nipissing senior guard Marcus Lewis led the way with 26 points on 10-18 shooting. The Gryphons meanwhile had five players score in double figures, with senior guard Jonathan Wallace leading the way with 17 points on 8-15 shooting. Gryphons second year forward Shawn Carey chipped in with 13 points off the bench, while third year guard Tommy Yanchus also made an impact off the bench, scoring 10 points, including a clutch three-pointer with :46 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter that made it a 80-78 game.

The Gryphons will now return home to close out the first half of the 2017-18 season with a matchup against the Queen's Gaels (5-3) on Friday, December 1. Following that, the Gryphons will be off for the exam/Christmas break and will resume their OUA regular season schedule in early January (5 & 6) when they head to Thunder Bay for a back-to-back matchup with the Lakehead Thunderwolves.