FAIRBANKS (Jan. 17) – Junior guards Cole Johnson and Elijah Mobley delivered career-best scoring efforts, but the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team could not overcome an early deficit Saturday in a 91-76 loss to Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.

The Seawolves (12-6, 4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 17 points from Johnson, who sank three three-pointers and went 8 of 10 on free throws, while Mobley came off the bench for 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Senior forward Bishop Tosi added 17 points (4-5 FG, 9-10 FT) and three rebounds.

The Nanooks (9-7, 4-3) got 25 points apiece from starting guards Mike Miller and Tyriq Luke as they outshot the visitors 56 percent (14 of 25) to 21 percent (5 of 24) from long range.

Meeting their arch-rivals for the 115th time, the Seawolves fell behind from the opening minute and played catch-up all night. UAF hit 5 of 7 three-pointers in the opening five minutes – getting four from Miller – to claim a 15-11 lead at the first timeout.

Despite a pair of treys from Johnson, UAF extended the advantage to 33-19 at the 8-minute mark, and took a 45-32 lead to the locker room.

Johnson connected from distance to slice it to a 64-55 deficit midway through the second half, and combined with Tosi on a succession of free throws to creep within 71-63 at the 7:49 mark. The Nanooks responded, however, with a jumper by Luke and a three-pointer from Jalai O'Keith to lead by double figures the rest of the way.

Senior forward Akok Machar had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds for UAA, while senior guard Hasaan Herrington had four assists and three steals.

UAA returns to the Alaska Airlines Center next week, completing the first round of the GNAC schedule with games against Seattle Pacific (Thur., 7:30 pm) and Montana State Billings (Sat., 7:30 pm). Find tickets and live links at GoSeawolves.com.