ANCHORAGE – Junior guard Dom Hunter came off the bench to score 21 points Thursday night but it was not enough for host Alaska Anchorage in a 77-68 men's basketball loss to Central Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (9-9, 5-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) – playing without leading scorer and assist man Brian McGill (15.6 ppg/5.3 apg) – fell behind 9-0 at the outset and could never entirely make up the deficit as their four-game home win streak came to an end.

The Wildcats (11-4, 6-2 GNAC) got 21 points and four assists from starting guard Dom Williams, plus 11 points and six rebounds from forward Joseph Stroud as they shot 53 percent from the field and stayed within one game of first place in the league standings.

With McGill sidelined due to a lower leg injury, the Seawolves fell behind right out of the gate, trailing 18-4 at the 12:46 mark. After pulling within 26-22, the Wildcats answered with a 12-0 spurt to seemingly take control.

UAA came back with another surge, however, cutting the halftime deficit to 41-35 on Hunter's running three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Seawolves crept within two points twice in the second half, the final occasion coming on a three-pointer from Boomer Blossom that made it 49-47 at the 12:49 mark. Central's Jordan Russell nailed a trey just 12 seconds later, and the game stayed a two- to three-possession affair the rest of the way.

Trailing 60-54, Hunter had a chance to pull UAA closer with a three-pointer but missed with 42 seconds remaining.

Senior guard Travis Thompson added 14 points for UAA, while Blossom had eight points, four assists and three rebounds. Starting forward Sjur Berg added seven points and five rebounds, and freshman center Kalidou Diouf had seven points, two blocks and a game-high eight rebounds.

The Seawolves now sit fifth in the GNAC standings but have a chance to make up ground Saturday when they face Northwest Nazarene (8-10, 6-2) at the Alaska Airlines Center at 7:30 p.m.