RIVERSIDE, Calif.  – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team got back on the winning track with a heart-stopping 56-55 win Thursday night over UC Riverside at the UCR Student Rec Center. Dawson Carper scored the go-ahead basket with 31 seconds left and UCR came up empty on two final shot attempts to cap a roller coaster of a game.
 
The Rainbow Warriors improved to a 15-10 overall and 6-5 in the Big West while ending a four-game losing skid. With the win UH moved into a three-way tie for third-place in the Big West. The Highlanders (14-14, 4-8 BW), meanwhile, dropped its fifth straight contest.
 
Freshman guard Justin Webster led UH with a career-high 18 points, all of them coming in the first half. Eddie Stansberry added 12 points while Samuta Avea had nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Powered by Webster's offensive exploits and a 20-2 run, UH led 37-23 at half. The 'Bows held UCR to just 28 percent shooting in the first frame.
 
After a Stansberry three-pointer on its opening possession of the second half, UH enjoyed a 17-point lead, its biggest of the game. But then, UH endured a nightmare stretch. The 'Bows missed their next 12 shots from the field and the Highlanders put together their own huge run – a 26-3 spurt – that gave them a 49-43 lead with 7:44 left.
 
But UH didn't buckle, holding the Highlanders to six points the rest of the way and cobbling enough offense down the stretch to win. The 'Bows shot just 4-of-20 (20 percent) in the second half, but went 10-of-11 from the free throw line in the second frame to key the win.
 
UH will next face Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4:00 p.m./2:00 p.m. HT. The teams met just last week in Honolulu, with the Beach pulling out a 50-49 win.