NAMPA, Idaho – Playing without two of their top three leading scorers didn't end up sinking the Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team Thursday.

Instead it was an inability to get stops down the stretch.

The Nighthawks (7-6 overall, 3-4 GNAC) fell 80-74 to Alaska in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Johnson Sports Center.

NNU was without star forward Maurice Jones and guard Khalil Thompson.

"It is tough not having Mo – he's the leading scorer in our conference and Khalil is one of the best shooters," guard Obi Megwa said. "Not having them was definitely tough.

"(Alaska) hit tough shot after tough shot. We just didn't do a good job of keeping them off the 3-point line."

Alaska shot 49.2 percent from the field, including a blistering 45.2 percent from beyond the arc – making 14 of 31.

"They made a lot of shots," guard Jayden Bezzant said. "They were playing extremely well. Props to them. We've just got to get back into practice and work on our (defensive) rotations."

After a back-and-forth second half, Bezzant tied the game at 69-69 on a jumper with 3 minutes left. From there the Nanooks used a 9-2 run to pull away.

"I think we definitely have to get better defensively," Megwa said. "With what we had tonight we played hard and we tried, but on Saturday it will be a better game for us for sure."

Bezzant had a season-high 24 points, making 9 of 14 from the field. He also pulled down four rebounds and had three assists. Megwa added 16 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Dylan Brink had eight points.

"The guys told me I had to step up tonight," Bezzant said of his scoring. "Not having the scoring Maurice gives definitely hurt, but he also is our captain. He gives us our spark and our energy and I think we were missing that."

Alex Baham's 17 points led five Alaska players in double figures.

NNU hosts Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m. Saturday.