NORTH BAY, Ont. (February 22, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels men's basketball nearly erased a 22-point deficit in their OUA playoff game on Wednesday night against the Nipissing Lakers, but came up short in a 77-74 loss eliminating them from the conference playoffs.

Toronto native Sukhpreet Singh scored a game-high 31 points in what would be his final game wearing the red blue and gold. The highest scoring player in Queen's men's basketball history shot 10-of-21 from the field, 10-of-13 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds for the Gaels in a losing cause.

GAME FLOW
Isse Ibrahim (Toronto) tallied 12 points and four rebounds, while Russell Winters picked up eight points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Gaels, who struggled out of the gate against the fifth-seeded Lakers in the first half. The men shot just 33.3% and were 1-of-9 from beyond the arc, while Nipissing shot over 50% from the field and took a comfortable 43-27 lead into the halftime break.

The Gaels saw their deficit increase in the third quarter of play, as the 12th seeded Queen's went down by as many as 22, and faced an uphill battle heading into the final period, down by 20 at the end of the third.

Queen's, however, would catch fire offensively in the fourth, going on an 18-6 streak through the first six minutes of the quarter to pull to within single digits of the Lakers for the first time since the first half. The men got the lead down to seven with 3:06 remaining in regulation, but went cold on their next four possessions, which included two missed three's and a pair of turnovers. With 29 seconds remaining, a lay-up by Ibrahim would pull the Gaels within three, but the men would run out of time, falling in a heartbreaker after their valiant comeback bid came up just short.

The men finished the contest shooting 37.5% from the field, compared to 48.5% from Nipissing. Queen's picked up 33 rebounds and the Lakers pulled down 38 and outscored the Gaels in bench points 43-14.

BY THE NUMBERS
2- The Gaels hit just two three pointers against the Lakers, who hit seven
9- Queen's held Nipissing to just nine points in the final quarter after giving up 20 or more in the first three quarters
80%- The Gaels were 24-of-30 from the free-throw line, well above their season average of 65.9%