It was not until 39 minutes and 55 seconds after tip-off that the Hawaii basketball team could exhale.

“That was one of the craziest games I’ve been a part of,” coach Eran Ganot said following the Rainbow Warriors’ 65-61 victory over Cal Poly.

A crowd 2,829 in the Stan Sheriff Center saw the ’Bows control the boards but not always the momentum in improving to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big West. The Mustangs fell to 4-13 and 1-2.

The ’Bows scored nine of the game’s first 11 points, widened the advantage to 16 points in the first half, and held double-digit leads after intermission.

But the Mustangs, who could not grasp an offensive carom in the first half, rallied behind guard Colby Rogers. Rogers entered averaging 8.5 points and exited with a team-high 18, helping the Mustangs close to 61-59.

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Cal Poly

As the final minute approached, UH point guard Drew Buggs had the ball in the low post. With the shot clock siphoning, Buggs was in a tandem trap. But he managed to weave between guard Keith Smith and 6-foot-10 Tuukka Jaakkola, and then hit a layup for a 63-59 lead with 59.8 seconds to play.

“That was the biggest shot of the game,” Ganot said. “It kind of saved us a little bit. We were out of sorts in that possession. It was a gritty, gutsy play from our point guard and captain.”

It was Buggs’ fourth point. He finished 2-for-9 from the field.

With 40.2 seconds to play, Jaakkola backed his way to the left edge of the lane, then scored on a hook over 6-9 Bernardo da Silva to cut the deficit to 63-61.

After Buggs missed a jumper, the Mustangs secured the rebound, and opted not to call a timeout. Smith drove up court and fired a pass to Mark Crowe. But the ball tailed and went off Crowe’s hands and out of bounds with six seconds to play.

UH guard Eddie Stansberry then was fouled with 5.7 seconds to play.

“Step up and make the shots,” Stansberry recalled thinking. “They were big free throws, but I shot them like any other free throw.”

Stansberry swished both to complete the scoring.

“There was no nervousness,” Stansberry said. “I stepped up. I knew the free throws would help us win the game. Good thing they both went in.”

Stansberry finished with 17 points, despite connecting on only five of 14 shots, including three of nine from behind the arc.

The ’Bows entered with simple goals of controlling the boards, playing active defense and minimizing self-inflicted turnovers.

The ’Bows checked off the first to-do item, finishing with a 47-35 rebounding advantage, including 15-4 on the offensive glass. The Mustangs did not secure their first offensive rebound until 14:39 to play. That interior dominance helped the ’Bows score 11 second-chance points; the Mustangs had only one.

But the Mustangs were able to manufacture points on fast breaks, with Smith sprinting into the lane to force the ’Bows’ defense to collapse and open the way for perimeter shooters. The ’Bows had difficulty keeping pace with their most athletic player, wing Samuta Avea, on the bench or in the tunnel because of a back issue.

“We wanted to be smart about it,” Ganot said of treating Avea’s ailment.

But the ’Bows, who never trailed, managed to make timely plays. When the Mustangs closed to 58-57, Stansberry buried a 3. Zigmars Raimo was 2-for-14 shooting, but he grabbed 14 rebounds — six off the offensive glass — and hit seven of eight free throws to finish with 11 points.

“We had to hang in there,” Ganot said, “and fortunately we hung in there.”

Stansberry said: “It was a close one. A nail-biter. But we got the W. You’ll see that in the record book.”