ANCHORAGE (Feb. 29) – Junior point guard Dillon Barrientos scored 18 points to aid a furious late comeback for the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team, but Seattle Pacific got a defensive stop in the final seconds to claim a 65-64 victory Thursday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (19-9, 9-8 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 12 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Jaron Williams, whose game-winning layup attempt bounced off with three seconds remaining.

The Falcons (16-14, 9-8) were led by 23 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Shaw Anderson as they built a 15-point lead with 10 minutes left and held on for the season sweep.

"Our shots were not falling from long range, but this group showed a lot of character – as they've done all year – by never quitting and giving themselves a chance to win at the end," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "This one stings a little, but we can still control our own destiny and we're excited for the opportunity against an extremely good Billings team on Saturday."

Riding a four-game winning streak into the contest, UAA started hot with 7-of-9 shooting to build an early 15-8 lead. The visitors began to chip away, though, and grabbed the lead for good at 21-20 on a basket by Shaw.

UAA sliced into a 34-24 halftime deficit on two straight baskets from senior forward Sawyer Storms and a layup by Barrientos, but Anderson was seemingly everywhere during another SPU run that pushed the largest lead to 55-40.

The Seawolves still trailed 65-57 with under a minute remaining before the Falcons opened the door by missing the front ends of two one-and-one chances. Two free throws by Williams and a layup by Barrientos made it 65-61 with 29 seconds left, and Williams trickled home a baseline jumper and drew the foul with 20 seconds to play.

Williams sank his free throw, and the Seawolves gained a golden opportunity when Maui Sze missed two free throws with 16 seconds left. Following a timeout, UAA got the ball to Williams in post-up position, but his drive was well defended by SPU's Jadin Penigar, who forced a tough attempt that resulted in a rebound scramble as time expired.

The reigning GNAC Player of the Week, Barrientos shot 8 of 16 from the floor and added three assists in a team-high 38 minutes.

Storms finished with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five rebounds, while senior guard Tyson Gilbert had 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

UAA got all of its scoring from just five players as freshman center Sloan Lentfer finished with nine points, six rebounds and a career-high-tying three assists.

Now tied for fifth with SPU in the standings, the Seawolves can still clinch a berth to the GNAC Tournament (Mar. 7-9 in Ellensburg, Wash.) with a win against Montana State Billings in the regular-season finale Saturday (7:30 pm) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find links go live video and stats, as well as tickets, at GoSeawolves.com.