Mele Kalikimaka, University of Hawaii basketball fans. Make that UH sports fans, in general.

In a year of many disappointments, the Rainbow Warriors gifted their followers with a wonderful present Monday night, a 76-74 win over Saint Mary’s, which was 9-0 until arriving on these shores.

That final play was pretty much how you draw it up. Isn’t life great with a legitimate point guard and a team of shooters full of confidence and accuracy?

UH kept itself in position to win this second-round game of the Diamond Head Classic despite an extremely disappointing loss the previous night to Boise State.

This time UH didn’t just keep pace, it made the plays it needed to in order to win.

The point guard was flawless, with six assists and no turnovers, including the final Keith Shamburger helper to Christian Standhardinger in the corner. Others with fewer than eight misses from the field (in 11 shots) could’ve taken the shot. But these Rainbows all believe in each other, and that is among the reasons they have a chance to go pretty far in the Big West.

First there is Oregon State on Christmas Day, another present for the fans. UH coach Gib Arnold might be far from the most famous former Punahou School basketball player in the house for this one, as President Barack Obama could show again to see his brother-in-law Craig Robinson coach the Beavers.

Maybe not, but you might want to get to the Stan Sheriff Center early for the 11 a.m. tip-off.

Perhaps you are still not impressed enough to spend a couple of hours of the holiday with the Rainbows. They are 8-3, the rest of the wins not against anyone comparable to the Gaels. Maybe you are wary after buying fool’s gold last season.

Here’s what’s different: They’re up-tempo. They’re tenacious on defense. They take care of the ball and they share it. They can shoot.

Until Monday I did not think one of their virtues was depth up front. But an explosive performance by forward Aaron Valdes off the bench in nine electric first-half minutes was crucial to this win. It was more than just his 10 points.

"I don’t think we win that game without Aaron Valdes," Arnold said. "He hit a big 3, he was getting his hands on a lot of balls. I learned something about Aaron. He’s a gamer."

Valdes contributed mightily despite suffering an injury to his right elbow a few seconds after entering the Boise State game. His absence was part of why UH’s bench was outplayed by BSU’s. He was a key part of the game plan to try to match the Broncos’ athleticism.

On this night it was the opposite, the Hawaii bench outscoring Saint Mary’s 15-6.

Saint Mary’s has been to real postseason tournaments the past four years, so Arnold is correct when he says it is a "program" as opposed to his "team that sometimes plays good basketball."

So this was a huge win.

"But we’re not there," the coach said. "We’ve got a game against a Pac-12 team. The guys from L.A., the West Coast guys, are excited about the game on Christmas."

All UH fans should be as well.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads