On a night when guard play was supposed to be strictly no contest, it was left to two members of the University of Hawaii’s overshadowed backcourt to shine brightly.

The smallest player on the court, 5-foot, 9-inch Brocke Stepteau, delivered the perfect pass, and freshman Leland Green hit an arching 20-foot 3-pointer with nine-tenths of a second on the clock to deliver a stunning conclusion to an 80-77 victory over Cal State Northridge.

Green’s shot from the right corner was the first walk-off basket of his career — youth league, high school or college — and it induced instant delirium in the Stan Sheriff Center gathering of 3,199 that had seen the Rainbow Warriors trail by as many as seven points in the second half.

Green, who is beginning to come into his own, got all of his nine points on timely 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.

Fittingly the guards were in the middle of the celebration as some Matadors players dropped to their knees and shook their heads in disbelief.

And seeing was disbelieving for the now 8-9 (2-2 Big West) ’Bows when you consider the Matadors’ strength was their taller, talented, more experienced backcourt. And the ’Bows’ woes were deemed their smaller, less experienced backcourt.

Small wonder with Kendall Smith, the Big West Conference leader in assists per game (4.6) and No. 2 in scoring (16.5) and the ability to take over a game.

Smith, the brother of former ’Bow Quincy Smith still got his 20 points, but was made to work for them and held to three assists.

“They’ve got some really good guards,” Stepteau acknowledged. “But we’ve heard the talk (about UH’s backcourt) all year long. We just wanted to show what we could do and this was our chance.”

And they showed plenty. Especially Stepteau, who was the only player in the game to play all 40 minutes while Sheriff Drammeh did not get off the bench for the first time this season.

But, then, Stepteau has been the ’Bows’ biggest bargain this season. The sophomore from Dallas is a walk-on at a school where out-of-state tuition and fees can easily run over $30,000 a year.

And yet, he has started nine games and played in all 17 while leading the team in assists and free-throw percentage.

Wednesday night, while giving away at least six inches to the Matadors guards — and as many as nine to some — Stepteau scored 11 points and had a career-high of seven assists against Division I competition.

But it would be the last one that was made most memorable on this night as the clock wound down in a game tied at 77.

“Coming off the screen, first I was looking to turn the corner and, maybe, get a layup,” Stepteau said. “But, then, I saw Leland’s man going to the basket and I looked over and saw him in the corner. I hit him in the best place I could and he knocked it down perfectly.”

Stepteau said, “I looked up real quick (at the clock) after I let the ball go and he had about one second when he caught it. But the release (of the shot) looked good. I can tell when he gets under it if it is going to go in and it was.”

“It was,” Stepteau said, “Perfect.”

The “perfect” ending indeed.