Watching Eastern Washington on tape had Hawaii men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold concerned entering Tuesday’s matchup with the Eagles … and with good reason.

Playing a smaller but quicker team, the Rainbow Warriors saw an early lead evaporate and couldn’t catch the Eagles late in a 89-72 loss at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii controlled early and led 27-21 with 5 minutes left in the first half. But Eastern Washington, sparked by forward Collin Chiverton, caught then zoomed past the Rainbows with a 25-5 run bridging halftime.

"I knew coming on film this was a really good team. I thought they were more athletic in every position, those teams give us a hard time," Arnold said.

"I thought we started pretty well, they made that run at the end of the first half and we never could quite match it, never quite got into a rhythm. Looked like we were a step slow tonight, too."

Chiverton didn’t score until the 4:11 mark of the first half, but accounted for the Eagles’ final 12 points before the break on his way to a game-high 20 to lead four EWU players in double figures.

EWU (2-2) entered the game averaging 11 made 3-pointers per game and hit just seven of 26 on Tuesday. But they burned the Rainbows (1-2) on drives and proved quicker to loose balls and long rebounds.

"That’s what happens when you have good shooters," said UH guard Zane Johnson, who led the Rainbows with 14 points. "It stretches the defense out and allows their bigs to go for the offensive rebound one-on-one. It allows one-on-one in the post. They had a great game plan and credit to them."

Arnold said EWU’s post play was a key with forward Cliff Ederaine, who had been averaging 7.3 points, hitting for 18 with five rebounds as the Eagles grabbed 13 offensive rebounds while beating UH on the boards 34-30.

"It was just our energy," UH forward Trevor Wiseman said. "We just didn’t bring it today …which we should have."

Eastern Washington had been competitive in eight-point road losses to Gonzaga and Oregon before faltering late.

This time the Eagles answered every time UH threatened to get back into contention.

"Coach Arnold has a great defensive scheme and my guys had to stick to a game plan and they did," first-year EWU coach Jim Hayford said.

"Not a lot of nonconference road wins for Eastern, so this is a great one. We’re starting a new chapter at Eastern and this helps a lot."

Chiverton went scoreless until he hit a 3-pointer for his first bucket, then attacked on drives to draw fouls or score at the rim.

UH went without a field goal over the final 5:13 and EWU took a 33-29 lead into halftime.

The EWU lead grew to 46-32 when Jeffrey Forbes drained back-to-back 3-pointers from nearly the same spot on the left side of the court.

The Eagles shot 57 percent in the second half to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way and leave the Rainbows to look forward to Friday’s game against Pacific.

"It’s one of those nights and it’s never fun," Arnold said. "But you’re going to have them and we have to get back to work tomorrow and fix it."