Hiram Thompson picked a pretty good time to redeem himself.

The junior point guard sank two perfect free throws with 2.1 seconds left to send Hawaii to a thrilling 68-67 win over San Jose State last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 3,315 watched as UH nearly gave the game away—twice—in the final 30 seconds of a tight seesaw battle. Instead, the Rainbow Warriors got a much-needed win to improve to 9-9 overall and 2-3 in the WAC. They moved into a sixth-place tie with the Spartans (9-8, 2-3) in the league standings.

Hawaii had a one-point lead and the ball with under a minute to play. The Rainbows looked to drain clock after a Roderick Flemings offensive rebound with about 45 seconds left, but a Thompson pass to Flemings was disrupted by Adrian Oliver, who fed Chris Oakes for a fast-break thunder dunk and a 67-66 SJSU lead with 19.4 seconds left.

On UH's next possession, another Thompson pass to Flemings was picked off—this time by Justin Graham with about 6 seconds to go. But Oliver—an 88.8 percent free-throw shooter entering the game—missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Brandon Adams (career-high 19 points with nine rebounds) snatched the board and fed Thompson, who alertly went the length of the court against the unprepared Spartans. Oakes hammered him hard at the basket and Thompson hit his head and was down for several seconds.

“;I remember lying there on the floor thinking this was my chance to redeem myself,”; Thompson said. “;The team needed me at the end of the game and I felt I let them down with those two bad passes. I felt it was an opportunity to redeem myself and get this win.”;

He missed the game against Northwestern State in late December with a concussion. But his teammates had the utmost confidence in him, and he delivered the last of his 14 points stoically.

“;When he fell, I knew he was going to get up and knock the free throws down,”; said Jeremy Lay, who posted his best game in weeks with 19 points and five of the team's nine 3-pointers. “;It was just making sure his health was all right, making sure he didn't hit his head too hard. When he got up, I knew he was going to hit both of those.”;

SJSU coach George Nessman was stunned.

“;We should have won in that situation, or at least gone to overtime,”; Nessman said. “;We fell asleep defensively. Thompson made a heads-up play ... that's how you win a basketball game.”;

And UH desperately needed it after the worst WAC loss in UH history, a 44-point drubbing at Utah State last Monday. The Rainbows shot 55.2 percent in the first half and held on despite just 27.6 percent conversion from the field in the second half.

There were five ties and 10 lead changes in the nerve-wracking game.

“;Our guys stepped up and seized the moment, and that's all that matters to me,”; UH coach Bob Nash said.

Hawaii went up 63-58 on an Adams free throw, but Oliver responded with a soaring layup and Lay was whistled for an intentional foul on a breakaway drive by Graham with 3:10 left.

Graham (21 points) hit both free throws, giving him a new season high, and Robert Owens hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession for a five-point swing and a 65-63 SJSU lead.

But Lay wasn't finished. He hit a trey from the top of the arc—his fifth—and stole a lazy Graham pass and called timeout.

“;We wanted to keep on fighting,”; Adams said.

Regular starters Flemings (knee) and Petras Balocka (shoulder) came off the bench after going half-speed in practices this week. Lay and Adams stepped into the starting lineup in their stead. Flemings had the magic touch in the first half with five assists, and finished with a career-high eight helpers. It set the tone for a 20-assist, 12-turnover game for UH.

The team's second-leading scorer, guard Dwain Williams, was also out after the recent death of a cousin. Nash didn't know when he'd return, and said that a mainland trip was possible for him.

Oliver had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Oakes had 14 points and 11 boards for SJSU. The Spartans were 13th nationally in 3-point percentage entering the game, but went just 4-for-20 on treys last night.

SJSU held for the final shot of the half and Oliver delivered with step-back 3-pointer to beat the buzzer. UH settled for a 42-39 lead at the break.