Balance. Balance. Balance.

The point was driven home repeatedly in Hawaii’s preseason exhibition against Division II neighbor Hawaii Pacific, a 90-70 Rainbow Warriors win before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,670 on Wednesday night.

As a possible harbinger for the 2017-18 season, the ’Bows spread the love around on their returnee-heavy roster, with senior big men Gibson Johnson and Mike Thomas leading the way with 18 and 17 points. Three others — Leland Green, Drew Buggs and Sheriff Drammeh — scored in double figures.

UH assisted on 21 of its 35 field goals, with Buggs and Jack Purchase combining to dish 10 off the bench.

“I think that’s what makes this team so special,” said Johnson, the second-leading scorer on last season’s 14-16 squad. “It’s not going to be a couple guys stepping up, it’s going to be several. Not just starters … guys off the bench. When we play unselfish basketball, it’s good basketball.”

Johnson was perfect from the field (7-for-7) and the line (4-for-4). He and Thomas — who redshirted with an injury last year — factored prominently into a 52-22 points advantage in the paint.

“It was fun. There were some things we gotta work on, I gotta work on,” Thomas said, later specifying defense. “I had a great time just being with my brothers.”

UH could have gone a number of directions with its starting lineup based on its practices. Incumbent Brocke Stepteau got the nod at the point, along with Green, Drammeh, Thomas and Johnson.

UH has eight more days to make adjustments for its Nov. 10 opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The Sharks, picked to finish in the middle of the PacWest Conference, hung around for about 35 minutes.

Larry Lewis Jr., a guard for UH last year who transferred to new-look HPU in the offseason, started for the Sharks and scored 15 points on 3-for-12 shooting.

Lewis cut it to single digits on three free throws with under 10 minutes left. San Diego State transfer Niksha Federico followed with a 3 to cut it to 65-57 at 7:51. Federico then blocked Purchase’s jumper and scored on an inbounds play to make it six.

Drammeh hit a 3 with 7 minutes left, and Buggs and Green each hit from the left corner to extend the lead to 15.

After the Sharks claimed a brief lead in the opening minutes, UH’s second unit kicked off a 9-0 run for a 21-10 lead.

HPU went without a field goal for nearly 7 minutes, but the Sharks cut it to 31-25 on a 3 by Jonathan Janssen, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Thomas had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first half as UH led 41-36 at the break.