A first-half Haunslaught and several dazzling debuts carried the Hawaii men’s basketball team to an easy win in Friday night’s 2012-13 season opener.

Hauns Brereton poured in 20 of his career-high 24 points in the first half, Nebraska transfer Christian Standhardinger had 27 in his first official UH action and the Rainbow Warriors controlled matters from the outset in their 76-64 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of about 4,000 on the first night of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic got to cheer on eight players seeing their first official action with the largely rebuilt ‘Bows. Making impressive debuts were senior point guard Jace Tavita (nine assists) and freshman forward Isaac Fotu (15 rebounds).

Perhaps the most encouraging sight for UH was senior center Vander Joaquim making an effective return to action. He came off the bench in his return from a preseason knee injury and scored 11 points with eight rebounds.

"I feel real comfortable with the guys," said the senior captain Brereton, who shot 9-for-12. "The great thing is we’re only going up from here. This is only Game 1."

The ‘Bows won their fourth straight season opener, including all three under coach Gib Arnold. After falling in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in March and finishing 16-16, the ‘Bows — now of the Big West Conference — got back to winning.

"Overall I was pleased with the effort and pleased with the outcome," Arnold said. "Happy to finally play again. Happy for these guys. I really, really like this team and I want them to have a lot of success."

UH’s gamelong lead was only challenged in the final two minutes, when the Hawks bothered some of the host’s subs with fullcourt pressure. It got no closer than eight at 68-60, and many of UH’s 21 turnovers came with the outcome basically decided.

"I always felt the game was in hand, but I wanted to get those freshman guys as many minutes as I could," Arnold said. "When it was cut to 10, I thought, ‘OK, let’s do this on another night.’"

UH has a practice day today, then continues the round-robin tourney vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1) at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Brereton scored UH’s first 11 points. He got the party started immediately with 3-point makes on UH’s first three possessions. He went 4-for-7 on triples, all in the first half, tying his career high for long-range makes.

"Shoot, the ball just went in, and everybody kept finding me," the swingman said. "What surprised me was the ball kept coming. Jace kept finding me open."

Standhardinger made his long-awaited return to Division I action after redshirting last season. He shot 10-for-15 and scored 16 points in the second half. His three-point play on the run in the final minute iced the game.

"Amazing," the 6-8 German said of his feeling afterward. "I don’t know how to call it. The whole past year I was struggling because I couldn’t play, I couldn’t help my teammates on the court. … Coach gave me playing time today, and I was happy I was just able to give that trust back."

Joaquim made good on his weeklong proclamations that he’d play in the opener coming off his preseason right MCL tear. Last season’s All-WAC center played 19 minutes, including most of the second half, and shot 4-for-6.

UH’s retooled frontcourt proved up to the task of the Hawks’ big bodies of 6-11 and 6-10 Nigerians TJ Kosile and Francis Ezeiru. The rebounding advantage went 43-31 to UH, although points in the paint were a wash. UH’s lead got up to 19 on a transition dunk by newcomer Brandon Spearman (10 points) with under nine minutes left.

"After a while it seemed like we were playing in quicksand," UMES coach Frankie Allen said. "Give a team like that good looks and they’ll make the shots and get their confidence."

UMES, 7-23 last season, looked to press and trap the ‘Bows late. The ball-Hawks forced three straight turnovers to make it 68-60 with under two minutes left. Troy Snyder led UMES with 17 points and seven boards.

Houston Baptist 72, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 68

The Huskies of the Great West Conference held off a spirited charge by the Golden Lions in the final two minutes to win their season opener.

Marcus Davis scored 22 points with six rebounds to lead Houston Baptist. UAPB had four starters score in double figures, including Terrell Kennedy with 19 points, but the Lions shot only 12-for-25 from the free-throw line.