ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Northwest Nazarene University men's basketball team suffered through a rough shooting night, falling 59-48 on Thursday to Alaska Anchorage in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.

The Nighthawks (11-10 overall, 7-8 GNAC) shot just 31.5 percent (17 of 54) from the field in the loss. They made only 3 of 18 from beyond the 3-point line, including missing their first 11.

Despite it all, they still had a chance to win thanks to a 12-2 run late to pull within 48-42.

Alaska (11-12, 7-8) led 46-30 with 8:07 left in the game, before NNU's big run.

Obi Megwa made two free throws, Olamilekan Adetunji added one, Sam Roth had a fastbreak layup, Maurice Jones hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer and Jayden Bezzant added a layup.

Just like that, the Nighthawks were within 48-42 with 3:19 remaining.

The Seawolves would not be denied, though, going on a quick 6-0 run to push the lead back to double digits.

"I was really proud of our defensive effort," NNU coach Paul Rush said, "but Anchorage did a great job of taking away what we wanted to do offensively."

Bezzant finished with 20 points, making nearly half of the team's field goals. Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Megwa finished with eight points.

Anchorage also struggled to shoot the ball, making 37.5 percent of its shots (21 of 56). The Seawolves did shoot 50 percent from beyond the arc, making nine 3-pointers which was the difference in the end.

Despite the loss, NNU is still in the playoff hunt. The Nighthawks are in a three-way tie for sixth place with Anchorage and Alaska with five games to play. The top six teams move on to the GNAC conference tournament scheduled for March 1-3 in Anchorage.

NNU plays at Alaska at 5 p.m. MST on Saturday.