Kingston, Ont. (January 23, 2009) – A flat first half was the difference as the Queen's Gaels lost 73-58 to the No. 2 Ottawa Gee Gees on Friday night during Primetime Community Basketball Day.

Queen's recorded a mere six points in the first quarter then followed with 16 in the second while Ottawa exposed the Gaels defensively erupting for 48 to go into the half with a 26 point lead. The Gaels rebounded in the second half outscoring the Gee Gees 36-25, but by that time the damage was already done.

The Gaels were without leading scorer Mitch Leger of Kingston, Ont., who strained his MCL last weekend against Ryerson. The third-year forward, who hadn't missed a game since his first year with Queen's, will likely miss the next 4-6 weeks.

Guard Baris Ondul of Istanbul, Turkey led the Gaels with 13 points . Dan Bannister of Newmarket, Ont. followed with 12 points while Ryan Hairsine of St. Marys, Ont. and Nick DiDonato of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., each had 10.

Josh Gibson-Bascombe of Toronto was the Gee-Gees leading scorer pouring in a game high 19 points including eight rebounds. Ottawa also got a contribution from Dax Dessureault of Embrun, Ont., who tallied 11 points in 25 minutes played.

Queen's has now lost three-in-a-row and their schedule doesn't get any lighter with the Gaels set to face No. 1 ranked Carleton on Saturday. Carleton is coming off a 118-71 win over Royal Military College and additional storylines annually surround the Queen's-Carleton match-up. Raven's Coaches Dave Smart is the brother of Queen's head coach Rob Smart, while Rob's son Rob Jr. is an assistant at Carleton. The Ravens also have three Kingston natives on their roster (Stewart Turnbull, Robert Saunders, and Aaron Doornekamp).

Tickets are available at the door with tip off scheduled for 8:00pm inside Bartlett Gymnasium.