SEATTLE, Wash. – The Northwest Nazarene men's basketball team lost 72-70 to Seattle Pacific on Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

NNU, which led by as many as 26 in the first half, was called for two offensive fouls in the final seven seconds.

After a three-point play by Ezekiel Alley pulled the Nighthawks within 71-70, Seattle Pacific missed a 3-pointer and NNU came down on offense ready to go for the win.

But Adalberto Diaz was called for a moving screen foul with 6.9 seconds left. Divant'e Moffitt was then fouled and made the first free throw, but missed the second. Olamilekan Adetunji grabbed the rebound and got the ball into Alley's hands.

The lightning quick guard went the length of the floor and was called for an offensive foul on his resulting layup attempt.

"There is a lot to be encouraged with in how we were playing in the first half," NNU coach Paul Rush said. "The way the ball was moving and playing for each other and really creating. In the second half, I needed to do a better job of getting us into the same type of stuff. We got disjointed and out of rhythm."

The Nighthawks (15-9 overall, 12-7 GNAC) led 65-56 with just under 8 minutes remaining, but Seattle Pacific went on a 15-2 run to take a 71-67 lead with 1:55 to go. After a missed jumper by the Nighthawks, Sam Roth committed three fouls in 20 seconds to put the Falcons into the bonus. NNU had only been whistled for four fouls to that point.

Alley finished with 22 points and five rebounds, while Diaz had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jayden Bezzant had 11 points and four assists and Adetunji and George Reidy each had seven points.

The Nighthawks led 39-13 with 5:45 left in the first half after making 17 of their first 22 shots.

"There are a lot of positives to take from the first half and definitely a lot to learn coming out of the second half," Rush said.

Despite the loss, the Nighthawks still have a shot at the No. 2 seed to the conference tournament next week at Seattle Pacific. NNU needs to defeat Saint Martin's at 6:15 p.m. MST on Saturday and for Western Oregon to defeat Alaska. That would cause a three-way tie between NNU, WOU and Western Washington and the Nighthawks would get the No. 2 seed thanks to their sweep of the Wolves.

If Western Oregon loses to Alaska, then Western Washington is the No. 2 seed, NNU the No. 3 and Western Oregon the No. 4.

Moffit finished with 20 points for the Falcons (21-6, 17-2).