Their shots didn't fall, but they did Thursday night, and in the process the Seawolves also dropped a bit in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball standings.
UAA's 80-67 loss at Central Washington University in Ellensburg not only marked the first time this season the Seawolves have lost consecutive conference games, but cost them sole possession of second place in the 10-team league.
UAA (14-11, 10-5 GNAC) fell into a three-way tie for second with Central Washington (15-7, 10-5 GNAC) and Seattle Pacific (18-7, 10-5 GNAC). All three teams have three league games remaining.
The Seawolves face fifth-place Northwest Nazarene (9-6 GNAC) in Idaho on Saturday before returning home to entertain first-place Western Oregon (13-2 GNAC) on Feb. 26. They close the regular season against St. Martin's (3-12 GNAC), which is tied for eighth.
The top six teams in the GNAC qualify for the conference tournament, and second place is pivotal because the top two regular-season finishers each receive a bye into the semifinals.
UAA led 32-31 at halftime in Nicholson Pavillion, but didn't make a basket inside the first five minutes of the second half. The Wildcats responded by snatching rebounds, throwing long outlet passes, racking up fast-break points and eventually building a double-digit lead the Seawolves never seriously threatened down the stretch.
The Seawolves' loss came on the heels of 73-72 overtime loss to visiting Seattle Pacific last Saturday. Central Washington's win earned it a season sweep of UAA – the Wildcats won 77-68 in Anchorage on Jan. 22.
Seawolves leading scorer Travis Thompson, who entered averaging 16.9 points per game and shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range, endured a tough night shooting. He made just 1 of 7 3-pointers and 2 of 11 field-goal attempts, and finished with 11 points.
UAA's second-leading scorer Brian McGill, who entered averaging 15.1 ppg on 52.3 percent field-goal shooting, was plagued by foul trouble, missed all four of his shots and scored just two points.
The Seawolves shot just 37.7 percent from the field for the game.
Dom Hunter buried 7 of 10 shots from behind the arc and led the Seawolves with 21 points. The rest of the team made just 1 of 16 3-point attempts.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot 64.3-percent in the second half, and Dom Williams spearheaded their cause with 26 points that included four 3-pointers. Gary Jacobs delivered 16 points and ample momentum in the second half.
Joseph Stroud furnished the Wildcats 12 points, Marc Rodgers added 10 and Devin Matthews chipped in nine.