ANCHORAGE ? The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team got 23 points apiece from guards Brandon Walker and Kenny Barker but it wasn't enough to keep the undermanned Seawolves from dropping their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener, 90-78, to visiting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday night.

Guard Louie Beech led the sharp-shooting Crusaders (9-2, 1-0 GNAC) with 20 points, while forward Kendall Gielow was efficient inside with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

UAA (6-8, 0-1) ? despite missing second-leading scorer Jeremiah Trueman (14.2 ppg) because of a sprained ankle ? started the game strong, jumping to a 20-11 lead just eight minutes in.

The Crusaders then began their three-point barrage, however, finishing the first half with a 13-2 run that would put them ahead for good. NNU connected on 11 of 22 from long range, including 5 of 6 in the second half.

UAA fell behind by double digits, 52-40, with 14:09 remaining, and only once got within nine the rest of the way.

Barker nailed 3 of 5 treys and tallied four assists, four steals and six rebounds, while Walker was 7 of 14 from the field and 8 of 8 at the free-throw line. The 6-3 sophomore also led UAA with seven rebounds.

The Seawolves ? the No. 4 free-throw shooting team in NCAA Div. II ? finished 16 of 17 from the stripe.

Sophomore guards Kevin White and Lonnie Ridgeway chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively, for UAA, which had its 10-game GNAC home winning streak snapped. The Seawolves had not lost a GNAC home contest since Feb. 2007 against former member Seattle University.

UAA returns to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when its hosts GNAC preseason favorite Central Washington (7-2, 1-0) at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.