The University of Hawaii basketball team relied on an ensemble effort to produce Saturday night’s 81-64 victory over Cal Poly in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

In winning their third in a row, the Rainbow Warriors improved to 7-5 overall and 5-5 in the Big West. The Mustangs fell to 3-13 and 1-9 and continued their winless trend when they failed to reach 70 points.

For the ’Bows, post James Jean-Marie weathered a running tab on fouls to score 20 points, and combo guard Justin Webster sizzled again with 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting. In this two-game series, Webster was a combined 13 of 15. But head coach Eran Ganot praised a squad that had only 11 available players.

“Everybody made a difference to getting us to where we are now,” Ganot said.

After a see-saw start, the advantage eventually tilted toward the ’Bows, who were able to navigate through a variety of presses and defensive schemes. But while the ’Bows were ahead for 30 minutes, 57 seconds, their leads appeared to be built on sand because of foul trouble, in particular to the post players.

In the first four minutes of the second half, 6-foot-8 Jean-Marie was assessed his third and fourth fouls, and 7-foot starter Mate Colina picked up his third.

Casdon Jardine, a 6-7 forward, slid over to defend the post. Justin Hemsley, a 6-6 forward, came off the riser bench to provide active defense at the five.

And when Colina exited again with his fourth foul with 10:15 to play, Jean-Marie was beckoned. Ganot’s direct instruction was for Jean-Marie to avoid hand-check fouls.

“He did a good job being smart because (the Mustangs) had foul trouble, too,” Ganot said.

Jean-Marie scored 11 points in the final 10 minutes, helped defend Alimamy Koroma’s back-back-back moves, and hit all three of his free throws.

“Coach told me to come into the game and just be smart about it,” Jean-Marie said. “I wasn’t trying to get fouled out. I thought I did pretty good tonight just being engaged and playing hard for my team on defense.”

Ganot said Jean-Marie’s best contribution was a hustle play on a loose ball.

“The loose-ball play was big time, and our team fed off that,” Ganot said.

Jean-Marie said: “Coach talks all the time about making plays for our team every day in practice. I tried to do that tonight. I guess it was the right play for the team.”

Jardine also had a floor-burn moment. After a diving steal at mid-court, Jardine rolled a pass to Webster for a layup.

“I hedged the ball screen, and I got a hand on (the ball),” Jardine recalled. “I got to the floor first. I grabbed it. I saw Junior (Madut) going up the left side, and I couldn’t get to him because there was a guy there. I heard Web just yelling, ‘Cas, Cas, Cas.’ I didn’t even see him. I just threw it to the sound of his voice. Luckily, it worked out.”

Jardine finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The ’Bows also received a boost from their trio of point guards. In the first half, JoVon McClanahan, who started for the second consecutive game, amassed seven assists against zero turnovers. On one play, McClanahan parlayed a corner-eye glance into a lob to Madut, who scored on a reverse layup. McClanahan then lasered a pass to Jean-Marie for another layup. Later, Jean-Marie bodied his way just behind a cluster of defenders. McClanahan’s lead lob to Jean-Marie resulted in another layup.

McClanahan also displayed his offensive skills. He juked a defender with a cross-over dribble and then scored on a left-handed banker.

Biwali Bayles solved the Mustangs’ 94-foot press and match-up zones. Bayles grabbed a rebound and, before the Mustangs could set their traps, went shore to shore for a layup.

Noel Coleman, who had 10 points, buried two 3s.