The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team survived a furious rally from Long Beach State to come out the winners, 62-60, at the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday. The win was extra special, as UH honored long-time basketball supporter Ron Yee, who passed away recently due to a bout with cancer.

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Ryan Rapp and Marcus Greene led UH with 10 apiece with Greene scoring the final four critical points in the victory. Tanner Christensen and Harry Rouhliadeff were the next closest at nine apiece; they combined for 16 of UH's 34 rebounds (Christensen 7, Rouhliadeff 9).

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TJ Wainwright led Long Beach with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Devin Askew poured in 16 of his own and a team-high six rebounds despite going 5-of-20 from the field. Kam Martin had 11 as well.

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After a Rapp free throw put UH on the board first, Long Beach's Austin Johnson put the Beach on the board and in the lead with a dunk. It did not last long though.

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Rapp drilled UH's first triple of the contest to ultimately put UH in front. UH would not lose the lead again, but they had to withstand some obstacles. Rapp's triple was the start of an 8-2 UH run which included an additional triple from Christensen.

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The Beach made some runs at UH, but UH had no intention to lose their third straight after another empty-handed road trip last week.

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UH would efficiently handle LBSU's defense despite committing an egregious 12 turnovers in the first half to LBSU's five. UH built their lead to as many as six and took a five-point lead, 29-24, at the break.

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Wainwright and Rapp exchanged layups to begin the second half, but UH hit their stride the earliest while Long Beach missed some up-close shots.

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Despite going 0-of-5 from 3-point range in the second half overall, UH built its lead to a dozen off a turnaround Gytis Nemeikša jumper with 10:03 to go.

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Long Beach made multiple pushes, but UH's Greene came to the rescue. Greene would score eight of his 10 total points in that second half.

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With 3:43 remaining, The Beach went on a 12-3 run as a last gasp, which included a Greene foul on a Wainwright 3-point shot. Wainwright hit all three free throws and made a triple of his own with 1:26 to go to make it 58-55 UH.

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While running the clock down, Greene would miss a jumper with 53 seconds left, but Rouhliadeff got a critical offensive rebound to give UH another chance. With 35 seconds left, Greene sank what would be the most critical jump shot of the game to put UH ahead, 60-55.

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Long Beach's Martin nailed a triple with 11 seconds left to cut the gap to two, 60-58, but UH's Greene was not intimidated one bit. Greene sank two critical free throws off an Askew foul to put the gap at two possessions and ultimately out of reach.

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Long Beach got one last hurrah with a Derrick Xzavierro jumper at the horn for the final arithmetic.

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With the win, UH improves to 6-8 in the Big West and 14-11 overall. As for Long Beach State, they fall to 3-11 in Big West play and 7-19 overall.

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The 'Bows will return to the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday, Feb. 15 for another pivotal contest with the UC Irvine Anteaters. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. HST; you can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu or watch on Spectrum Sports.