The men’s basketball team blew two early leads at the ARC last weekend, extending their losing streak to six games.

The Gaels led the McMaster Marauders 18-17 after the first quarter on Friday, but the Marauders went on a 12-0 run in the second quarter to end the half with a 13-point lead. The Gaels outscored McMaster 21-20 in the third quarter, but struggled to score in the fourth quarter and lost 89-62. Mackenzie Simpson and Nikola Misljencevic led the Gaels with 16 points each.

On Saturday night, the Gaels scored 14 unanswered points for a 34-28 halftime lead over the Brock Badgers. Despite another 16-point night from Misljencevic, the Gaels couldn’t break the Badgers’ zone defence in the second half, losing 69-60.

Misljencevic has averaged 20 points in the team’s last three games, but he said he doesn’t need to produce offensively.

“It’s just who’s scoring on any given night,” he said, adding that Gaels forward Bernard Burgesson and guard Ryan Golden are both capable of posting 25 points a game.

Burgesson and Golden combined for 26 points over the weekend.

The Gaels are tied for last place in the OUA East with an 0-6 record.

“There’s no question we’re getting better,” head coach Stephan Barrie said. “We had fewer bad stretches than in some previous games.”

The Gaels hadn’t faced a zone defence this season until Saturday’s game against the Badgers.

“When teams play zone, you just have to be aggressive,” Barrie said. “For the first several minutes, we just weren’t attacking it. We have to be quicker in adjusting to that next time.”

This Friday, the Gaels play the 1-5 Western Mustangs in London. Barrie coached the Western women’s team for five years before coming to Queen’s. He won an OUA Championship when he played for the Mustangs men’s team in 1999.

“I’m looking forward to … getting back in that environment and competing against my home team,” he said.

The Gaels close out 2011 on Saturday night against the Windsor Lancers. The Lancers (3-3) are ranked 10th in Canada.