FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the road against Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday evening. The Falcons put together a late comeback and came within four points, but it wasn't enough as the Nanooks took the game 64-56.

"The combination of us not shooting the ball well and getting out-rebounded by the margin we did was too much for us to overcome," head coach Grant Leep said. "Both were a product of how hard and how well UAF played. They took us out of rhythm, and we never consistently found it again. Losing a game like this provides so many coachable and teachable moments that we will use to help us continue to grow and get better when we take the court on Saturday."

SPU and UAF played evenly throughout the first half. The Nanook gained the largest lead of the first half with a minute to go when a jumper moved the score to 33-25. Trace Evans scored a layup, and Shaw Anderson splashed home a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to three points at halftime.

Later in the second half, Kelton Samore hit a jumper that brought the Falcons to within three points. From there, the Nanooks went on a run. Their largest lead of the game was 14 points with 9:05 remaining in the game.

The Falcons' late push came with 3:05 left. Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws, followed by a 3-pointer and a tough and-one from Maui Sze. The 8-2 run brought SPU within five points with 1:13 to play. Sze hit another jump shot, moving the score to 60-56 with 34 seconds to go. The Nanooks protected the ball and made free throws to seal the game.

Anderson was solid on both ends of the floor for the Falcons. He scored a game-high 20 points while blocking three shots and grabbing two steals. Sze had a breakout night as well. He scored a career-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

SPU struggled to shoot the ball on Thursday night. They went 20-for-55 from the floor (36.4 percent and hit just six of their 22 3-pointers attempts for the game. The Nanooks were excellent in the paint, scoring 40 points while SPU put in 26 from the same area.

SPU's Alaska trip continues with a game against Anchorage on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. PST.