NAMPA, Idaho (Jan. 6) - The UAA men's basketball team started with a bang Thursday night, but couldn't maintain an early lead in a 65-52 loss to host Northwest Nazarene at Montgomery Fieldhouse.

The Seawolves (6-6, 0-3 GNAC) were led by freshman Carl Arts' season-high 14 points as they had their four-game winning streak snapped. NNU (7-5, 1-2) got 16 points and 12 rebounds from forward Mesut Ademoglu and took advantage of UAA on the boards, 35-25.

UAA could do no wrong in the first four minutes, jumping to a 10-0 lead when James Hartman (11 points) nailed his first basket of the night. But the Crusaders clawed back and went ahead 21-19 on an Ademoglu layup with 6:30 to play in the first half. The Seawolves hit the locker room down 32-28.

An Adam Fitt-Chappell jumper early in the second half cut the deficit to 34-32 before the Crusaders responded with an 11-0 run to forge the winning margin.

Junior center Bryan Freshwater led the Seawolves with seven rebounds.

UAA will try again for its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win Saturday at Seattle University. Tip time is 6 p.m. AST.