A young Hawaii team in need of an early test found more than a pop quiz from its sister school.

The Division II Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans came within a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer of shocking the Division I Rainbow Warriors, who pulled out a heart-stopping 72-70 win in yesterday's exhibition at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 2,203 saw the Rainbows fall behind 68-67 with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left on a four-point play by forward Jay DeMaestri, who finished with a game-high 21 points. Hawaii forward Adhar Mayen responded by hitting a clutch jumper and guard Kareem Nitoto dropped in two free throws to put the Rainbows up three, but DeMaestri came back with a potential three-point play that could have tied the game at 71.

He missed the free throw as the crowd exhaled, and Hiram Thompson hit one of two from the line to put the 'Bows up by two with 23 seconds left. After some stalwart defense in the halfcourt from freshman Leroy Lutu Jr., Hilo guard John Smith's potential game-winning trey hit the front iron.

“;You gotta give credit to Hilo—they came in and had a solid game plan,”; Hawaii coach Bob Nash said. “;They hit some big shots, some 3s, that kept them in the game and made a good percentage of their free throws. We just showed some inexperience at times, too many turnovers for us, 17. Overall, I thought our effort was OK.”;

The Vulcans went 10-for-23 from 3-point range (43.5 percent), while Hawaii was just 1-for-7 (14.3 percent).

Bill Amis, Hawaii's lone returning starter, led the team with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Forward Petras Balocka, a newcomer, put in a team-high 16 with eight boards. But the Rainbows' strategy of pounding the ball inside nearly backfired as the two combined to shoot 14-for-37 (37.8 percent).

Hawaii possessed a significant height advantage and consistently looked to score inside against the smaller Vulcans—whose tallest player is 6-foot-7—and earned a 67-53 lead with nearly 8 minutes to play.

But the scrappy, undersized PacWest team from the Big Island stormed back with a 15-0 run fueled by turnovers and capped it off with DeMaestri's big 3-pointer and ensuing foul shot.

“;We hit some shots and that helped us big time,”; Hilo coach Jeff Law said. “;We used our lack of height to our advantage in the second half when we put a little pressure on them. We had to because they would just beat us up if we just sit back.”;

“;It shows we're for real this year. We're pretty small, but it shows that we all play together,”; said DeMaestri, a 6-6 senior.

The highly anticipated debut of junior college transfer Roderick Flemings was postponed because of a death in the forward's family, and the Rainbows struggled at times finding rhythm in their halfcourt flex offense. Hawaii also went without the athletic Brandon Adams, who was considered a redshirt option.

But Nash wasn't afraid to go deep into the Rainbows' bench, and the walk-on Lutu (five points, two assists, two steals) and junior forward Paul Campbell (nine points) were solid in reserve roles.

“;I'm just glad we picked it up on defense and finally got a stop that we needed,”; Lutu said. “;If we play like we did tonight against Chaminade, it's gonna be a whole different story, and we gotta get focused.”;

Hawaii crashed the glass for 19 offensive rebounds, leading to 17 second-chance points. In all, the Rainbow Warriors attempted 15 more shots than the Vulcans.

Former Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace attended the game.