The Sharks smelled blood, but Hawaii did just enough to patch its wounds in time.

In the unofficial debut of acting head coach Benjy Taylor, the Rainbow Warriors eked out a 62-55 exhibition victory over Division II neighbor Hawaii Pacific on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Following a week of tumultuous events that included the firing of head coach Gib Arnold and the defection of its best player, Isaac Fotu, to the pros amid an NCAA investigation, UH was looking for a victory … any victory, even one that did not officially count.

Senior guard Garrett Nevels helped deliver it in front of the crowd of 2,492 with a big 3-pointer for a six-point lead with 1:08 to play. The HPU Sharks (their new nickname after switching from "Sea Warriors" this summer) had twice cruised within one point late in the second half, but got no closer after Nevels’ shot.

"I’m not gonna lie. It was pretty good," said sophomore forward Mike Thomas, who led UH with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and eight rebounds. "It’s something we’ve been needing, confidence-wise … to get a win, get some stride going into the season a week from tomorrow."

Said small forward Aaron Valdes, who had a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double: "It was good to see everybody smile. It’s been a rough week and a half."

The ‘Bows have plenty of work to do before they open the season vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff next Friday in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.

Operating a three-day-old offense, UH committed 18 turnovers (five by new starting point guard Roderick Bobbitt) and shot just 38.9 percent from the field, including 4-for-20 (20 percent) on 3-pointers. However, they used an athleticism advantage to collect 13 steals and hold coach Darren Vorderbruegge’s Sharks to 31.6 percent shooting. PacWest preseason all-conference guard Justin Long shot 2-for-13.

Taylor said he deliberately let his team play through some struggles.

"I thought the kids responded tonight," Taylor said. "We got one starter back (Nevels) from last year. It’s the first time a lot of these guys has been in that situation. … I don’t want to panic, offensively or defensively, (I wanted to) play the game we love and have the guys play together."

Swingman Negus Webster-Chan (sore ribs), point guard Quincy Smith (sore back), shooting guard Brandon Jawato (concussion-like symptoms) and power forward Stefan Jankovic (redshirting the fall semester) were unavailable.

Taylor went just seven deep, electing not to play his three walk-ons except for a brief stint by Dyrbe Enos in the second half.

"We gotta make sure we’re healthy," Taylor said. "That’s the most important thing right now, we have to stay healthy."

He said if it were a normal game, both Webster-Chan and Smith would have played.

That, combined with the losses of the all-conference forward Fotu and banger Sammis Reyes amid the preseason turmoil, meant UH was down to 10 active players — and was particularly light up front with the 6-8 Thomas, the springy Valdes and center Stefan Jovanovic the only options inside.

The ‘Bows got very small late in the game with four fouls apiece on Thomas and Jovanovic. The tallest player on the floor for the hosts was the 6-foot-5 Valdes.

HPU chose that time to put together a 13-1 run, coming within 52-51 with 4:13 remaining.

True freshman Isaac Fleming stuck a reverse layup coming out of a UH timeout as part of his 10-point outing off the bench.

HPU came back with two free throws by Darry Jones Jr., but Nevels responded with two foul shots followed by his game-sealing 3-pointer.

UH led by six at halftime. Bobbitt, a junior college transfer, picked up his third foul on a charge on UH’s first possession of the second half.

HPU got within three, but UH countered with a 10-3 spurt — including a hard throwdown by Thomas on a lob from Fleming — to go back up by double figures.

"I think the effort was definitely there," Thomas said. "We didn’t execute at times, but the effort was there."

UH made just one of its first 15 3-point attempts, but late hits from distance by Valdes and Bobbitt kept the Rainbow Warriors out front.

Over the last 3:36 of the first half HPU crafted an 8-0 run, drawing to within 29-23 at the break despite shooting just 27.6 percent in the period.

More than 500 students attended, breaking the old record of 160 students for an exhibition.