Despite a career-best 39-point game by Sukhpreet Singh, the Queen’s Golden Gaels dropped their second Ontario University Athletics men’s basketball game of the weekend Saturday night in Ottawa, 99-81 to the No. 3-ranked Carleton Ravens.

Singh, a fourth-year political studies major out of Martingrove Collegiate in Toronto, was 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, and he also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals. He shot better than 63 per cent (14-for-22) from two-point range.

It was the veteran guard’s second game this year with 30 points or better.

The Gaels hung with the five-time defending national champion Ravens through three quarters. Trailing 44-29 at halftime, Queen’s scored 38 points in the third quarter, a display capped by a three-point basket as time expired by Mark Paclibar that brought the visitors to within two points, at 69-67, going into the final period.

Carleton quickly regained control of the game, with an early 14-2 run from which the Gaels, held to just 14 points in the final 10 minutes, never recovered.

The loss was the fourth in five games in January for Queen’s, and it prolonged a 17-year losing streak against the Ravens. The Gaels have not beaten the team now coached by one of their own, Queen’s alumnus Dave Smart, since Jan. 30, 1998.

The Gaels, however, at 7-5 retain second place in the East division standings, six points behind the No. 1-ranked Ryerson Rams and six ahead of third-place Toronto. Carleton, 10-2, is second in the OUA North.

Tanner Graham, with 11 points—most of which came from a trio of baskets from beyond the three-point arc—was the only other Queen’s player to score more than eight.

Carleton, which held a 43-32 rebounding advantage—including 31-6 under its defensive glass—got double-digit scoring from four different players, led by Kaza Kajimi-Keane, who scored 20, Connor Wood, who scored 19, and Guillaume Boucard, who had 18.

The Gaels, who haven’t played at home since Nov. 21, return to the Athletics and Recreation Centre Friday night to play the Guelph Gryphons. Game time is 8 o’clock.