IRVINE, Calif. » In a game dominated by giants, Hawaii’s tallest and shortest starters played the pivotal roles.

Isaac Fotu and Keith Shamburger made career contributions Saturday night, as the Rainbow Warriors rallied for a 90-86 overtime victory over UC Irvine in Big West Conference play in front of 4,305 at the Bren Events Center.

UH’s third successive win puts the Warriors (14-5, 3-2) within one game of the first-place Anteaters (13-8, 4-1), whose six-game winning streak ended.

Fotu, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, scored a career-high 30 points. The 5-foot-11 Shamburger tied his personal offensive best with 17 points and passed for a career-high 11 assists. Punctuating Shamburger’s point total was an awkward 3-point bank shot that forced overtime with seven-tenths of a second left in regulation.

"My auntie tipped that one in for me," said Shamburger, who missed practice Friday to attend his aunt’s funeral. "I just thank her for that."

For Fotu, the win provided satisfaction beyond statistics.

"There was more on the line because they eliminated us last year in the Big West tournament," Fotu said. "Winning on the road is everything in this conference."

The Warriors succeeded against an opponent that featured two 6-foot-10 players, John Ryan and Mike Best; 7-foot-2 Ioannis Dimakopoulos — and 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye, the tallest collegiate player in the nation.

Those four, rotating in and out of the lineup, forced Fotu to change his offensive approach.

"I went into the game knowing that I wasn’t going to post up a lot with 7-foot-6 Mamadou in there," Fotu said. "I just wanted to get open on the baseline and shoot that little jumper. Every time I got the ball, I was looking to attack."

Irvine’s giants brought havoc after UH made its first eight shots and built 10-point leads three times in the first half. The Anteaters scored 52 points in the lane — including some crowd-pleasing dunks — blocked nine shots and gave Irvine’s zone defense an intimidating personality.

"We had a hard time dissecting it," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "That kind of slowed us down in the first half."

As a result, Irvine’s 15-2 surge in the final 5:04 of the opening half put the hosts ahead 43-38. Alex Young’s halfcourt shot as time expired culminated the spree. The Anteaters twice extended the margin to 10 points, and led 77-71 with 1:29 left in regulation when UH rallied.

Garrett Nevels’ short jumper and Fotu’s lay-in narrowed the deficit to 77-75 with 36.5 seconds left. Irvine’s Travis Souza made the first of two free throws with 17.3 to go, then Shamburger forced overtime by launching a 3-point shot near his right shoulder while being double-teamed closely.

Irvine held an 86-83 lead with 2:19 left in overtime before the Warriors made their final push.

Christian Standhardinger forced Ndiaye into a blocking foul, the center’s fifth, and made both free throws in the bonus to draw UH within 86-85. The Warriors’ defense then forced Luke Nelson into an off-balance shot from 3-point range that sailed out of bounds as the shot clock expired. Nevels responded with a 9-foot baseline jumper that gave UH an 87-86 lead with 1:04 to play.

On Irvine’s ensuing possession, Brandon Spearman rebounded Young’s missed lay-in and passed to Shamburger, who made one of two free throws with 22.4 seconds left. The Anteaters had one final chance, but Souza’s 3-point shot circled the rim and deflected off a teammate out of bounds, giving UH the ball with eight seconds to play. Shamburger made two free throws four seconds later, allowing Arnold to jump, pump his fists and flash a shaka to UH’s fans once the game ended.

"The guys played with great passion, great intensity and never gave up," Arnold said. "We made all the right plays at the end of the game."

Halftime —  Hawaii 45, UC Davis 34.
3-points goals — Hawaii 6-22 (Spearman 3-9, Shamburger 2-5, Nevels 1-6, Standhardinger 0-2). UC Irvine 3-13 (Young 2-4, Nelson 1-3, Souza 0-3, McNealy 0-2, Best 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 2 (Spearman, Smith). UC Irvine 11 (Young 5, McNealy 3, Nelson, Wright, Best). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Fotu, Nevels). UC Irvine 9 (Davis 2, McNealy 2, Ndiaye, Nelson, Dimakopoulos, Ryan, Best).  Officials — Justin Van Duyne, Kurt Walker, Jeremy Dente. A— 4,305.