Jace Tavita hadn’t attempted a free throw in a game since Nov. 16, and was 1-for-7 at the line for the season when he stepped to the stripe with about a minute left.

On Thursday night, it didn’t matter. The Hawaii senior point guard calmly drained both as part of a career-best 17-point game, and the Rainbow Warriors made their final 15 foul shots to hold off UC Santa Barbara 70-66 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH (17-11, 10-6 Big West) clinched a winning record for both the season and in league play, while taking sole possession of third place going into Saturday’s senior night "White-Out" game against Cal Poly (14-12, 9-6).

A crowd of about 4,500 saw UH’s seniors, particularly Tavita, come through in the clutch to make the season sweep on UCSB happen. Tavita, the Big West assist leader, called his own number when the Gauchos (9-19, 4-11) doubled down on the UH bigs and hit on five of six 3-point attempts. He was the driving force in bringing UH back from an eight-point deficit at the midpoint of the second half.

"Talk about a guy who wouldn’t let us lose," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "Wouldn’t let another chance to play at the Stan Sheriff to get away without a victory."

Tavita, like his usual deferential play style, dished credit to his teammates for clutch free-throw and 3-point shooting in the postgame press conference before being specifically asked about himself.

"I’ve been practicing them, me and Coach (assistant coach Scott) Fisher have been working on them," said Tavita, who had five assists and two turnovers. "I just stepped up (to) shoot ’em."

Tavita’s shots gave UH a five-point lead, but eighth-place UCSB — fighting for the final berth to the Big West tournament — scrapped back to within 66-65 when Kyle Boswell up-faked Isaac Fotu for a foul on a 3-pointer and made all three with 10.7 seconds to go.

UH center Vander Joaquim made two at the line, then nabbed a huge rebound when T.J. Taylor intentionally missed the second of two at the line with under five seconds left. Joaquim made four foul shots in the last 10 seconds, and was 8-for-9 at the line overall. Christian Standhardinger blocked Duke DaRe’s final shot at the buzzer.

The ‘Bows were 24-for-30 (80 percent) at the line as a team, helping offset a 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) 3-point shooting night by the visitors.

"They made their shots. Give them credit," UCSB coach Bob Williams said. "You’ve gotta make shots to win the game. They made their shots. We had some open looks, didn’t knock them down."

Senior Hauns Brereton added 14 points and Fotu had 12.

Joaquim was frustrated early in the game’s marquee matchup against UCSB sophomore center Alan Williams. He was limited in the first half — going 2-for-9 from the floor — before coming up big in the final 10 minutes, finishing with 16 points and nine boards.

Williams, who was out injured in UH’s 78-73 win at UCSB last month, had 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks, but shot 3-for-10 from the field.

"It’s a good challenge. He’s a good player," Joaquim said. "We’re out there competing. Both of us had a tough night. … But we just stick with the defense and good things happen at the end."

Boswell returned from a two-game absence from a shoulder injury to pour in a career-high 27 on 6-for-9 shooting, including 5-for-8 from 3.