The new and improved Mike Thomas has a knack for timing.

That sense helps him hunt out buckets in a variety of ways, and also pertained, as a whole, to Sunday night’s tense matchup with North Dakota.

Thomas, a role player on UH’s 2016 NCAA Tournament team, was dominant in shooting 12-for-16 from the field for a career-high 29 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Rainbow Warriors turned back the Fighting Hawks of the Big Sky Conference, 81-78.

UH needed everything the fifth-year senior captain could muster as the crowd of 2,852 was on edge the entire second half.

“He deserves it. There’s no one who puts in more time,” UH coach Eran Ganot said, noting his improved shooting, scoring on the boards, on drop-offs and on the block. “He’s just elevated his game. He’s just a self-motivated, tough, competitive, determined young man who’s now learning for us to play off him a little bit more.

“That’s all Mike. We’re enjoying watching his show there.”

But it wasn’t just Thomas. Leland Green hit some big jumpers down the stretch, contributing 18 points, and Brocke Stepteau steadied the ship at the point after North Dakota trimmed a 22-point gap down to a mere point with 35 seconds left.

UH weathered an errant 3-point attempt by Jafar Kinsey and hit just enough free throws to head into tonight’s game against Troy (1-1) with the outright title of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic on the line. Troy beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 24 in the first game Sunday.

“Frustrating, but I’m glad we did it,” said Thomas, whose previous best was 20 points against Long Beach State in his last active season two years ago. “We showed some toughness and we showed some maturity and some experience, and we got the job done tonight. I’m excited about that. But we were up 20. We shouldn’t win by just three.”

On Sunday, Thomas started at the 3 in UH’s “Big Three” lineup with Jack Purchase and Gibson Johnson, then shifted to the 4 and 5 over the next two hours as situations demanded it.

UH seized a 34-12 lead with seven minutes left in the half, with Thomas dunking it three times in the first five minutes on assists from Purchase.

UND (1-1) showed its mettle as a 22-win team coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

It rallied back, in part, by sticking a bigger body on Thomas and cutting off UH’s backdoor action. Meanwhile, the ’Bows’ bigs picked up a bevy of fouls as the Fighting Hawks kept diving to the basket and pecking away at the scoreboard.

Guard Geno Crandall went off for 41 points — including a 37-point second half — in a win against Troy on Friday. He came back to earth a bit Sunday, scoring 21 points with six turnovers.

Crandall dribbled up in the final 3.9 seconds of the first half and stuck a running 3 to trim the deficit to 46-31 at halftime.

UND kept coming and called timeout to set up a play down 79-76 with 44.9 seconds left.

They got a scoop layup by Marlon Stewart (18 points). UND then trapped point guard Drew Buggs and applied a foul on Stepteau (10 points, five assists). Stepteau missed the first, UND called its last timeout, and he made the second to go up 80-78.

“I expect to make all my free throws,” Stepteau said. “Luckily I made the second one to at least make it (two). … I’ll knock down both next time.”

The Fighting Hawks moved the ball around and got a rhythm 3 from Kinsey. Only problem was, no one except Crandall had made a 3 all game, and Crandall didn’t touch the ball on the final possession. UH guard Sheriff Drammeh made his season debut and face-guarded Crandall much of the second half.

“They were making him work for everything, so we tried to get him as a decoy in that one, see if we could get an easy one for somebody else,” UND coach Brian Jones said. “We got a great look, a rhythm shot. You gotta finish the play, but we couldn’t ask for better execution.”

UH’s Johnson rebounded it, pumping his fist, and made one of two. Cortez Seales’ desperation heave to tie was off the mark.

Troy 81, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57

The Trojans steamrolled the Golden Lions (0-2) behind Wesley Person’s 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, and four other players in double-figure scoring.

Troy dominated the rebounding battle to the tune of 47-29 and shot 50.9 percent from the field.