It was hardly elegant — downright horrid in the first half, wrote sportswriter Brian McInnis — but a win is a win is a win. And that’s just what the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team did Thursday night — eked out a 67-65 win against UC Davis — and it was enough to clinch UH its first Big West championship. A final regular-season game at 2 p.m. today will determine if UH is the conference’s lone or co-champion.

And then, the post-season: Big West Tournament play starts on Thursday against Cal State Fullerton. Kudos to freshman Coach Eran Ganot and his players for showing true Warrior spirit, which has uplifted the men’s hoops program well above the tumult under its previous coach.

Things looking up for 4 Kapolei students

Congratulations to the four aspiring astronomers at Kapolei High School who are the inaugural winners of the Maunakea Scholars Program, which will allow them to further their research at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope’s control room on Mauna Kea.

Jamie Valdez and David Zerba will research “Quasars and What They Are Made Of,” while Nevyn Tyau and Ashley Cobbs explore their proposal, “Validating or Redefining Mischaracterized Unconfirmed Exoplanets.”

Way to reach for the stars, students.