RIVERSIDE, Calif. » Five days after earning its first road victory of the season, Hawaii faced another potentially frustrating night against a team playing out of character.

But the Rainbow Warriors nullified a 14-point deficit, then relied on Isaac Fotu’s play in the final six minutes to secure a 72-68 victory over UC Riverside on Thursday night at the Student Recreation Center.

So with members of the Big West Conference scrambling for the best positions before the conference tournament in March, Hawaii (12-9, 6-4) takes over third place by a half-game over UC Irvine and Cal Poly.

The Rainbows also positioned themselves one game behind second-place Pacific.

"Riverside played great," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "To beat a team on the road shooting as well as it did is a tribute to these players."

Fotu played the pivotal role. The freshman from New Zealand scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot in the final 5:29 to finish with eight points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 24 minutes.

"Isaac has strong nerves and he won us the game," said forward Christian Standhardinger, who led Hawaii with 23 points and 10 rebounds. "We tried to find mismatches. They were covering me and Vander (Joaquim), so we needed somebody to step up."

When was the last time Fotu played so well in such a short stretch?

"I can’t really remember in the college game," he said. "Probably back home in age group."

Fotu asserted himself after coming off the bench for the second consecutive game following 12 successive starts.

"I think there’s less pressure on me," Fotu said of playing as a reserve. "I like watching the game progress and watching for little things, and I like to make an impact straightaway when coming off the bench."

The Highlanders (5-16, 2-7) — ranked ninth or last in the Big West in four offensive categories — shot 53.6 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from 3-point range in the first half while building a 32-18 lead with 6:38 before halftime.

"We had a six-hour flight behind us," Standhardinger said. "That explains the first half."

Riverside held a 62-51 advantage with 9:57 to play when UH rallied. Fotu’s lay-in with 3:32 remaining forced a 67-67 tie and ended a 16-5 surge that Brandon Spearman led with seven points and a steal.

Fotu made his tying basket possible by blocking Chris Patton’s attempted lay-in 16 seconds earlier and securing the rebound.

Hawaii regained possession with three minutes to go when Riverside’s Robert Smith made an errant pass against the Rainbows’ scrambling defense. Joaquim’s two free throws with 2:32 left gave UH its first lead, 69-67.

The Highlanders had a chance at least to tie the score when Patton made a steal with 1:55 to play. But Austin Quick missed the ensuing 3-point shot. Stanhardinger grabbed the rebound, and Fotu ended the possession by driving the right baseline for a reverse lay-in with 1:32 left.

With 32.7 seconds to play, Patton made the first of two foul shots — Riverside’s first points in 4 minutes, 15 seconds — to close the margin to 71-68. Patton’s second free throw fell short but ricocheted off Fotu and out of bounds.

Yet on Riverside’s resulting possession, Taylor Johns bobbled Robert Smith’s bounce pass. After a scramble, the referees gave Hawaii the ball with 16.2 seconds to play.

"This win was huge for us," Stanhardinger said. "We want to finish in the top half of the league and it’s hard for us. But we have smart players who never quit."