BELLINGHAM, Wash. – There are no moral victories in sports, but the Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team certainly played its best game in recent weeks Thursday.

The Nighthawks had two shots at a victory in the final 10 seconds, but came up short both times falling 67-66 to Western Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.

Maurice Jones had his layup attempt blocked with four seconds left and Jayden Bezzant's 3-pointer on the ensuing possession rimmed off.

"I was really proud of how they responded down nine to a very good team," NNU head coach Paul Rush said. "We definitely are showing we are progressing defensively and sharing the basketball, but just need to keep trusting in that process and moving forward together."

The Nighthawks had lost their last two games by double digit points, so Thursday's effort was a marked improvement.

NNU (6-5 overall, 2-3 GNAC) trailed 52-43 midway through the second half, but chipped away at Western's lead eventually cutting it to one at 62-61 on a Marko Lepovic 3-pointer with 3:39 left.

The Nighthawks tied the game at 64-64 on a jumper in the paint by Obi Megwa and briefly took a 66-65 lead with 25 seconds left on a Jones layup, but Brad Wallace made a layup at the other end with 13 seconds to go to provide the winning points for the Vikings (10-3, 5-0).

"I thought we played really well defensively tonight," said Rush, "and did a good job neutralizing their height advantage.

"They are a good team and made big shots when they needed to."

Jones led the Nighthawks with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Bezzant finished with 16 points. Megwa had nine points and five assists, while Nikola Prvulj had eight points.

The Nighthawks continue their road trip at Simon Fraser at 8 p.m. MDT on Saturday in Burnaby, British Columbia.