FULLERTON, Calif. » Hawaii had to rally from an eight-point deficit — and survive the frantic final moments — to accomplish an unprecedented feat Saturday night.

Garrett Nevels made a big 3-point basket with 1:01 to play, then converted two free throws with 16.6 seconds left to secure the Rainbow Warriors’ 83-80 victory at Cal State Fullerton in front of 3,017 at Titan Gym.

UH (18-7, 7-4) kept pace with first-place UC Irvine in the Big West Conference and moved within a half-game of second-place UC Santa Barbara. Hawaii has won four successive conference road games for the first time in school history.

Only one other time, during the 1971-72 season, have the Warriors won four straight games on the road.

Yet UH coach Gib Arnold originally felt reluctant about using the chance to reach a major achievement as motivation.

"I didn’t know if I wanted to tell the guys," Arnold said. "I didn’t know if I wanted to put pressure on them.

"But I said, ‘You know what? One of the goals of this team is wanting to make history.’ It was our pregame talk. We’ve got a chance to go make history, and this is one of the things you can do, right now."

Making history meant overcoming not only a 65-57 deficit with 8:38 to play but also Fullerton’s Alex Harris, who scored a career-high 29 points — including the Titans’ final 13.

UH held a 78-74 lead when Harris made two free throws, then made a steal and a slam dunk to forge a 78-78 tie with 1:29 remaining.

But on the Warriors’ ensuing possession, Nevels made a 3-pointer that put UH ahead 81-78.

"It wasn’t a great look; he had guys coming at him," Arnold said. "But he’s just the guy I wanted to shoot it."

Keith Shamburger, who referred to Nevels as "Big Shot G," agreed.

"We know ‘G’ can do that," Shamburger said of the junior college transfer from Los Angeles. "Everybody felt comfortable when it left his hands. We put him in the situation to make those shots."

Harris responded with two free throws that narrowed the margin to 81-80 with 55.3 seconds left. Fullerton (3-7, 8-16) then had a chance to take the lead when Sheldon Blackwell went to the free-throw line after tracking down a loose ball and getting fouled by Christian Standhardinger.

But Blackwell missed both foul shots in the double bonus with 18.5 seconds to play.

Nevels grabbed the rebound of Blackwell’s second missed shot. Fullerton’s Marquis Horne gave Nevels the chance to determine the game’s fate by sending him to the free-throw line after fouling him.

With Harris encouraging the orange-clad homecoming-night crowd to yell at full volume, Nevels made both foul shots to extend the Warriors’ lead to 83-80.

"It doesn’t really affect me, honestly," Nevels said of the loud environment. "I’ve shot so many free throws that it’s just routine. It’s just focus."

Harris tried to force overtime with a 3-point shot but missed, and Nevels grabbed the rebound with 1.3 seconds to go.

UH led by as many as seven points in the first half, but the Titans held the Warriors scoreless in the final 2:20 of the half to build a 46-42 halftime lead.

UH then began the second half by missing nine of its first 11 shots. But Isaac Fotu scored 13 points in the final 10:46 to finish with a team-high 24 points. Fotu made seven of 14 field-goal attempts and all 10 of his free throws two nights after scoring just eight points against UC Riverside.

"You’ve just got to keep giving Fotu the ball," Shamburger said. "We’ve just got to milk it with him. If they’re going to double-team him, all our shots will come.

"He’s not going to force anything. He’s going to pass the ball out if he’s got to. Fotu is the most unselfish player I’ve ever played with to be that good."

Brandon Spearman added 14 points. Nevels finished with 12 points. Shamburger contributed 11 points, nine assists and one succinct opinion about the Warriors’ performance.

"This," Shamburger said, "is where champions are made."

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime — Cal State Fullerton 46, Hawaii 42 3-points goals — Hawaii 5-9 (Spearman 2-3, Nevels 2-4, Shamburger 1-2). Cal State Fullerton 6-17 (Williams 3-6, Blackwell 1-1, Horne 1-3, Harris 1-6, Gentry 0-1).

Steals — Hawaii 6 (Nevels 2, Stanhardinger 2, Shamburger, Smith). Cal State Fullerton 6 (Harris 3, Blackwell 2, Williams).

Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Fotu, Rozitis). Cal State Fullerton 4 (McClellan 3, Blackwell). Officials — Glen Mayberry, Donald McAllister, Mark Fulton. A—3,017.