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Payback was a decade in the making.

Nearly 10 years after Xavier defeated Hawaii in UH’s last NCAA Tournament appearance, the Rainbow Warriors scrapped and clawed for a signature 84-82 overtime victory over the No. 14 Musketeers in the consolation semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday night.

Hauns Brereton hit an improbable double-clutch 3-pointer from the top of the arc to tie the score at 77 with 2 seconds left in regulation, completing a stunning rally from 15 points down in the second half.

Joston Thomas capped off a career night — 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting — by scoring the extra-period game-winner on a take from the baseline following a feed from Zane Johnson with about 1.5 seconds left.

The ball twirled around the rim for what appeared to be an eternity. When it finally dropped through, the Stan Sheriff Center crowd of about 5,500 erupted. Xavier got the ball out of the net, and a three-quarter-court heave was all the Musketeers could muster. It was well short.

The ‘Bows mobbed each other at midcourt as Xavier players walked off, dejected.

"I was like ‘go in, go in, go in,’ " Thomas said with a laugh. "(This) is big, but we got bigger (games) to take."

UH (6-5) will try to claim the DHC consolation championship against Clemson at 11:30 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Friday’s win was UH’s first over a ranked team since the 84-62 home drubbing of No. 4 Michigan State to kick off the 2005-06 season.

"I couldn’t be happier while that ball rolled around. Holy smokes," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "Give these guys all the credit in the world … playing a team at full strength and undefeated when they had everyone together."

Xavier (8-3) lost its third straight since a brawl on Dec. 10 against crosstown rival Cincinnati cost the Musketeers several of their best players due to suspensions coming into the tournament. But XU had both of its play-making guards, Tu Holloway (26 points, six assists) and Mark Lyons (18), back for this one. The pair combined for 44 points, but Xavier had several players in foul trouble for much of the game.

"We had to go zone. We haven’t practiced enough zone to be formidable in it and they got some easy looks," XU coach Chris Mack said. "For us it was the defensive end. We couldn’t get stops. Their post players had their way with us."

UH center Vander Joaquim scored a season-high 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Brereton added 13 and Johnson 14 and five assists. Miah Ostrowski orchestrated the late heroics with seven assists and five steals. None was bigger than setting up Brereton for his first 3.

Brereton laughed and shrugged about his hero shot.

"(Coach) put me in to have another option, another shooter," said Brereton, who went 6-for-7. "Miah (Ostrowski) put me in position to get a weird, double-clutch shot off."

It was the first meeting between the teams since David West-led Xavier beat UH 70-58 in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. The Rainbow Warriors haven’t been to an NCAA since. The Musketeers of the Atlantic 10 Conference have been to 10 of the past 11.

XU came out motivated, storming out to a 12-0 lead. But UH shrugged off the slow start and, with Thomas as the sparkplug, played the Musketeers even for the rest of the first half.

The biggest win of Arnold’s two-year tenure came a night after UH fell in heartbreaking fashion to Auburn in the tournament’s first round. UH employed multiple defenses, including a triangle-and-two against XU’s star guards.

"We didn’t give up. We just kept coming back," Arnold said. "I think we wore them down. I really do."

Joaquim opened up overtime with a dunk, and Trevor Wiseman’s one-handed slam with 1:50 left in OT — his first points of the game — put UH up 82-79. But the ‘Bows turned it over on their next two possessions, and Xavier’s Travis Taylor got an offensive rebound and was fouled with 12.4 seconds left.

With most of the fans on their feet and loud, Taylor made one of two to tie it at 82.

UH had possession coming out of a timeout with 6.7 seconds left. Johnson inbounded and got the ball back, going around a screen and driving toward the basket. He got most of the Musketeers defense to follow him, and he perfectly dumped it off to Thomas for the almost point-blank bucket.

The win looked doubtful for UH until the final moments. Holloway hit a fadeaway 3 to make it 75-71 going into a timeout, earning a respectful high-five from Arnold.

"I wanted to cool him off. I wanted to grab that right hand and squeeze it real hard," a grinning Arnold said. "He’s a great player."

UH trailed by 15 points with 13:53 left in regulation but cut the deficit to one three times, the latest on a Johnson 3-pointer from the corner with 3:10 to play to make it 75-74.

Thomas matched his career high in the first half with 18 points off the bench. Johnson started 2-for-9 but finished 5-for-15 in keeping UH’s hopes alive in the final minutes.

Holloway picked up his third foul on a touch near halfcourt seconds before the buzzer, but Brereton missed both free throws and the ‘Bows trailed 45-34 at the break.

It was a microcosm of the game: UH was gifted with plenty of whistles, but failed to capitalize. The ‘Bows went 8-for-16 at the line in the half.

Holloway and Lyons both picked up their second fouls on charges, drawing the ire of Mack.

Mack received a technical foul, and Johnson made both free throws to make it 35-25 with 5:22 left in the period. The UH senior surpassed Reggie Carter (1975-76) for the UH record for consecutive makes at the line with 29.

UH didn’t score until nearly 4 minutes in, and started 0-for-7 from the field.