ANCHORAGE – Junior guard Tyson Gilbert scored a game-high 18 points, but the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team could not complete a second-half comeback effort Thursday in a 79-74 loss to Western Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (8-7, 2-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 11 points apiece from sophomore guard Lachlan Viney and junior forward Jaron Williams as they suffered their seventh loss by five points or less this season.

The Vikings (10-6, 3-3) were led by 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks from freshman forward BJ Kolly, who did all of his damage in the second half after picking up two quick fouls in the opening minutes.

After erasing two seven-point deficits to forge a 35-35 halftime tie, the Seawolves opened the second half with a nice feed from AJ Garrity to Gilbert for a layup. That would be the hosts' final advantage, however, as the Vikings tied it on a dunk by Kolly and took the lead on a D'Angelo Minnis three-pointer to kickstart a 17-3 run.

Viney penetrated for a layup at the 7:47 mark to slice the deficit to 61-58 and Jaedon Bradley's putback basket made it 65-62 with 5:47 left, but the visitors scored on three straight possessions over the next 60 seconds to retake control.

Gilbert shot 7 of 15 from the floor, along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Colorado State-Pueblo transfer scored his most points as a Seawolf.

Garrity finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and two assists, while Williams grabbed a career-high five steals.

Junior forward Sawyer Storms accounted for four points, six rebounds, four steals and a career-high nine assists for UAA, which forced 25 Viking turnovers.

Western Washington offset their sloppy ball-handling with .569 (29 of 51) shooting, however, including .519 (14 of 27) from three-point range.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip against Simon Fraser. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and live links.