They are tournament-bound now!

In another heart-stopping contest, the University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team got the final say over the Cal State Northridge Matadors, 72-70, at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday. The win means UH is officially in the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada next week.

Bernardo da Silva led the 'Bows with his seventh double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. Justin McKoy and Noel Coleman were next with 14 apiece, and Juan Munoz chipped in 13 of his own.

"The guys kept looking for me and I was able to be efficient," Da Silva said.

Northridge was led by De'Sean Allen-Eikens' 34 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field. Dionte Bostick was next in line with 13. Northridge was short-handed, as Dearon Tucker and Mahmoud Fofana were unavailable for this game.

Both UH and Northridge split the first 12 points of the first half, but Coleman banked a triple at the 11:46 mark to put UH back in front. Northridge had an answer though.

Northridge would use a 6-0 run to take the lead by as many as three, but UH was not fazed.

Despite two early fouls, McKoy came back on the floor and anchored UH to retake the lead. UH built its lead to as many as six after a Harry Rouhliadeff triple with 4:16 remaining.

UH appeared to have control, but turnovers threw real monkey wrenches, which included one towards the end from Munoz when he missed a catch. That turned into a buzzer-beating bucket from Northridge's Gianni Hunt.

Despite an uncharacteristic 13 turnovers from UH to Northridge's nine, UH still took a scant 26-25 lead into halftime. Allen-Eikens led all players with 12 while da Silva led UH with nine.

Coleman began the second half with a triple less than a minute in, but UH was outscored 8-2 in the next three minutes. Ryan Rapp saved UH's bacon with an and-1 layup with 16 minutes remaining to tie the score at 33.

Rapp made the additional free throw to put UH back in the lead for good eventually.

UH pulled out its lead to as many as 13 via a 12-2 run just before midway. It appeared they would win convincingly by a double-digit margin, but Northridge would have none of it.

With 5:29 remaining, UH still led, 62-49, but they went cold for a stretch while Northridge went on a 16-5 run to seize the win at the eleventh hour. Free throws from Coleman and Munoz kept the Matadors at bay; however, UH would end the game without a field goal for the last 3:55 of the game.

Allen-Eikens buried his third triple of the game to put Northridge down, 71-70, with 12 seconds left. A Jasman Sangha foul put da Silva at the free-throw line, but he went 1-of-2 there, which put the score at 72-70 UH.

Bostick went for the tie, but he committed a costly turnover with three seconds left, and da Silva atoned for his missed free throw with the key steal.

On the final possession, Rapp threw the ball past half-court, and McKoy was able to track it down just in time to take away Northridge's last chance for another buzzer-beater.

"My first thought was I'm going to have to throw it, and my second thought was that I can get it, so I grabbed it," McKoy said of the final possession.

Despite 21 made field goals in the second half for Northridge, to UH's 14, it was not enough. Free throws were a problem, as Northridge was held to just four of five attempts while UH made 16 of their 26 total free throws.

UH improved its ball control in the second half with only four turnovers committed while Northridge committed six.

"I thought we had less control over Riverside than we did tonight," McKoy said of those last two minutes. "But there was never a doubt."

UH improved to 18-13 overall in 2023-24, and 10-9 in the Big West standings. They will take on the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners on Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. HST at the Stan Sheriff Center. You can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu or watch the game on Spectrum Sports.

Saturday will be Senior Night, as UH will say aloha to six seniors before the Big West Tournament commences next week.