Benxi, China » Hawaii trailed by 18 at halftime. Zane Johnson was done for the night with swelling in his sprained ankle. Joston Thomas picked up a technical foul at about the worst time possible. Rotation players Bobby Miles and Davis Rozitis fouled out, forcing Gib Arnold to go deep sea diving for subs among his not-so-deep 10-man roster.

Then there was the fact that Shenyang’s star point guard, Gao Ai Lun, had the chance to cap a memorable game with a game-winning basket or assist as time expired.

Somehow the Rainbow Warriors survived all of the above and denied Gao a shot on the final possession, and UH seized another exhibition from the Shenyang Panpan Dinosaurs 72-71 at Benxi Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes and junior forward Hauns Brereton put in 21 points each for UH, while Thomas added 17. UH finished at 3-1 against Chinese Basketball Association pro teams on the Warriors to Asia tour, including a two-game sweep of Shenyang.

Zone defense, a small-ball lineup emphasizing UH’s transition attack and plenty of heart got it done.

"Everybody came in and nobody quit, which as a coach is great to see when your team finishes and especially doesn’t quit," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "We talk about being Warriors and the spirit of Warriors and we saw that tonight, so we feel really good about that."

Thomas had the go-ahead three-point play near the start of the fourth quarter, but also contributed an ill-timed outburst after a no-call on his drive, then a foul at the other end in the final minute. But the Dinosaurs let UH off the hook by missing both technical free throws and turning the ball over, leaving UH up by one.

That was one of several bullets the Rainbows had to dodge before boarding a bullet train this morning to Beijing. The Rainbows’ best Matrix impression only gave them confidence and stole it from the hosts, who were backed by more than 4,000 people in their home country.

UH trailed 48-30 at halftime as Gao shredded the UH man defense with penetration to the rim. Once he established that, UH help started to arrive and Gao kicked out to open teammates for a barrage of 3s. Shenyang scored on 12 of its final 13 possessions of the first half.

The partisan Chinese crowd cheered Shenyang, also known as Liaoning, with cries of "Jaiyou! (add fuel)."

But UH’s inner fire, stoked by Arnold at halftime, burned plenty hot as the ‘Bows stormed to a 20-5 run out of the break and nearly squared the game after three quarters, at 60-56 Shenyang.

Players described Arnold as intense but eerily quiet at halftime. He pointedly reminded his team they didn’t fly across the Pacific Ocean to fold in the face of adversity.

Shenyang coach Gao Shiqiang noticed the difference in the second half.

"They showed the characteristics of the team. I see the height of the players wasn’t tall, but they showed speed, they showed strength," the former China national team coach said.

"I felt that they were rattled," Brereton said. "They didn’t expect us to come back like that, I don’t think. I mean, they knew we were going to give them a fight, but they didn’t know we were going to come back that fast. It all started with the (1-2-2 zone) defense."

It ended with Stokes being blanketed and forced into a bad shot on UH’s last possession, and Gao, who tallied 23 points and seven assists, dribbled out the clock at the top of the arc.

He moved to use a cross screen at about 8 seconds, but UH had switched from a 1-2-2 zone to a 2-3 and was positioned to stymie the attack.

Reserve guards Pi‘i Minns and Brandon Jawato filled in admirably on the final possessions for UH’s fouled out players, but it fell on Stokes to herd Gao into the teeth of the UH zone, where he was cut off and was unable to get off a shot or a pass to a teammate before the game clock expired.

"I wanted to lock him down. I wanted to get the job done," Stokes said. "Coach believed in me to get the job done, and I wanted to stop him the best way I know how."

UH tours Beijing for two days before playing the Panasonic Trians in Osaka to end the international tour.