Superman and Captain America were upstaged by four members of the Fabulous Five on Superhero Night at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday — and then by the current Rainbow Warriors, who were nearly down to just five players themselves.

It was also Alumni Night, and if things had gone on any longer Hawaii might have needed to try to put a former Rainbow on the court to finish things up against Cal State Fullerton.

UH had just six available players in the final few minutes of the 81-61 rout.

And truth be told, the way Justice Sueing dominated in the alumni game, the 41-year-old could’ve helped his alma mater extend the lead against the Titans.

“Our guys fed off of that,” said coach Benjy Taylor, who organized the first alumni game in decades. “Would’ve been good to get Justice out there and Phil (Martin) and Johnny White off the camera and suit him up.”

The Rainbows were so short-handed that guards had to play forward in the 

2-3 zone. Hawaii often employs a smaller lineup, but by choice — this time it was by necessity.

John Penebacker could relate, being a 6-foot-2 forward. But that was back in the early 1970s, when such a thing wasn’t so uncommon. Small forwards could actually be small … especially if they had 42-inch vertical leaps, like Penebacker.

This team could really use a guy like him. Penebacker was older than the rest of the Fab Five, coming in as a freshman after serving in the Air Force. He was a mature, calm leader.

The current Rainbows are in dire need of some of that. Even its co-captain and only senior, Garrett Nevels, lost his cool Saturday. He’s the last guy you expect — or want — to draw a double technical and ejection.

“I’m going to have to deal with that,” Taylor said, repeating what has become a tiresome refrain. This was the second game in a row in which UH received two technical fouls.

But considering everything — including that Fullerton isn’t even very good with its leading scorer, Alex Harris, who was out Saturday — this was a very strong team effort by Hawaii. 

If three ankle injuries to starters or key players wasn’t enough, there was the Nevels ejection.

“And we won by 20,” Taylor said.

Quincy Smith and Negus Webster-Chan stepped up big-time. Seldom-used backup Niko Filipovich contributed some steady minutes, too.

The question of Taylor’s contract and whether he will be offered a long-term deal is still out there. Hawaii is 18-9. Penebacker says hire Taylor now and remove the interim label.

“Given what he’s managed to do under so much adversity, I think he’d be a good fit,” the Rainbows legend said.

If trainer Jay Goo can work some miracles and get those ankles fixed quickly, Taylor can continue to make his case with some more wins.

But that case will be infinitely stronger if the Rainbow Warriors can go a couple of games without some technical fouls. Hopefully they will have a different officiating crew to deal with Thursday at UC Irvine.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.