WINDSOR, Ont. (January 7, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels men's basketball team fought back from an early 20-point deficit, but came up just short on Saturday evening at the St. Denis Centre, where they fell to the Windsor Lancers by a score of 78-77.

GAME FLOW
The Gaels got into trouble in the second quarter of the match after finishing the opening stanza facing just a two-point deficit. After a Jesse Graham (Kingston, Ont.) layup at 6:11 of the period put the men up by three, Queen's could not muster a point throughout the rest of the half, resulting in 20-straight points from the hosts who went up by 17 at the break.

After the lead went up to 20 just under four minutes into the third quarter, the Gaels clamped down defensively and went on a 19-5 streak. Nine of those points came from Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.), who finished the contest with a game-high 26 points.

Tanner pushed the Gaels ahead at the 2:20 mark of the final quarter, and the teams traded leads throughout the fourth as time winded down. Tanner hit a three with 37 seconds left to pull the Gaels within a point of the Lancers, but the men turned over the ball on their final possession, allowing Windsor to come away with the victory.

Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) added 22 points, five rebounds, and six assists for the Gaels, while Russell Winters (Long Island, N.Y.) and Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) tallied eight points each in a losing cause. Windsor shot 45.2% as a team, compared to 39.9% from the Lancers, who were led by a 25-points performance from Mitch Farrell.

BY THE NUMBERS
26- Tanner Graham's 26 points is a career-high, and it is the second time this season he has tallied 20 or more points
6- The loss snaps a six-game win streak for the Gaels (6-2), whose last loss came on November 11 in their season-opening defeat to the York Lions
6- It was also the sixth conference game where the men worked at a 40% offensive efficiency or higher

UP NEXT
The men return to the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) next weekend, hosting the defending OUA champion Ryerson Rams and Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday and Saturday. Both games tip-off at approximately 8:00 p.m.