Playing small ball, the Hawaii basketball team’s frenetic comeback attempt fell short — thrice — in a 52-51 loss to Cal State Fullerton in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 3,997 saw the ’Bows, who trailed by as many as 18 in the second half, use a 7-0 run to close to 52-51 with 21.7 seconds to play.

Fullerton’s Latrell Wrightsell was fouled with 20.8 seconds to play. But Wrightsell, who entered 85.2% from the line, missed the free throw.

UH’s Samuta Avea pulled down the rebound, and the ’Bows called time with 16 seconds to play.

“We wanted to get at the rim, and give us enough time to get offensive rebounds,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.

Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor used UH’s timeout to set up the defense, beginning with 6-foot-5 wing John Mikey Square assigned to hound 5-10 point guard JoVon McClananahan.

McClanahan took the inbounds pass at the top of the key, drove, and put up a jumper that did not fall with 6.4 seconds left.

Kamaka Hepa missed the ensuing tip with 5.5 seconds to go. Avea grabbed the ricochet — his sixth offensive rebound — in the left corner, but his jumper hit the left side of the rim. Fullerton’s Grayson Carper grabbed the rebound as the final horn sounded.

“It felt good,” Avea said of his parting shot. “I thought it would go in.”

Taylor said: “We were trying to make them shoot a contested shot. We didn’t want them to get a shot off. … They were able to get a couple opportunities. We came out on top.”

After a review to determine if time was indeed exhausted, the referees declared the Titans the winner for the fourth time in five games.

“That’s college basketball,” Taylor said of the Titans’ ninth single-digit outcome in 14 Big West games. “If you watch games all day, especially out here on the island, from 9 o’clock in the morning you see all the games. They come down to one-possession games. We’ve been in a lot of them. We’ve been on the short end of a lot of those. For us to come out on top tonight, it was a huge credit to (the players), especially getting a win on the road.”

UH fell to 18-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big West. Fullerton is 14-12 and 8-6.

The ’Bows opened the game by hitting their first two shots — both launched from behind the arc — but then missed 19 of their next 20 field-goal attempts. The Titans parlayed the ’Bows’ 16.7% shooting and 11 turnovers into a 30-15 lead at the intermission.

With Wrightsell hitting shots to start the second half and 6-9 post Bernardo da Silva sent to the UH bench after picking up his fourth foul with 17:26 to play, the ’Bows went to a three-guard lineup. Hepa, a 6-10 forward, played the final 10 minutes with four fouls. Avea, a 6-6 wing, moved to power forward. Avea finished with 17 rebounds. And Kody Williams guarded Wrightsell, who ended with 4-for-12 shooting.

“It’s a game of adjustments, and Eran’s an excellent coach,” Taylor said. “The coaches understand if you’re going to take this away, we’re going to make an adjustment over here. … It’s a chess game.”

Ganot praised his small-ball unit that featured McClanahan, Noel Coleman, Williams and Justus Jackson at three guard spots. Ganot said the unit’s passing forced the Titans into help-out rotations, opening the way for Avea to swoop in for rebounds. Hepa and Avea also hit key 3s down the stretch. The ’Bows were without sixth man Beon Riley, who is recovering from a leg ailment.

“I know we’ve been out guys,” Ganot said. “It is what it is. You have to find a way when guys are out. We played small ball at times. You have to do whatever you can to try to win with the personnel that you have.”

Gamebook CSUF at Hawaii by Honolulu Star-Advertiser