HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team nearly overcame a 13-point second half deficit before ultimately falling short in a 64-61 loss to UC Santa Barbara, Thursday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. 
 
Stephan Swenson scored a game-high 21 points, including seven of the Gauchos' final nine points to secure UCSB's (9-5, 1-2 Big West) first conference win of the year. UH (8-5) meanwhile dropped to 0-2 in conference following its first home Big West game. It marked UH's sixth straight loss to the Gauchos. 
 
Tanner Christensen led UH with 15 points, 10 of them coming in the first half. Gytis Nemeiksa added 13 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Rapp scored all 10 of his points in the second half and added seven rebounds to energize UHs comeback down the stretch.
 
After trailing by three at the break, UH took a 38-36 lead — its first lead since midway through the first half — on a pair of Rapp free throws with 15:44 left. UCSB responded with a 15-0 run, including three 3-pointers, to open up its largest lead of the night with 9:56 remaining. 
 
Nemeiksa hit a jumper to snap a six-minute scoring drought  and spark a 14-4 UH surge to bring the 'Bows back into contention. Tom Beattie contributed a transition layup and Aaron Hunkin-Claytor hit a jumper to keep UH close at 53-46.
 
After Ben Shtolzberg answered for UCSB, Rapp went on a personal 6-0 run to chop the deficit to three with 5:17 left. Rapp scored on a layup with 5:56 left and capped the run with a jumper moments later to bring UH to within 55-52 at the 5:15 mark.
 
Swenson ended a five-minute  UCSB scoring drought with a layup high off the glass to extend UCSB lead to 57-52 with 2:26 left.
 
Christensen cut the deficit to three with a dunk with 1:51 left and again with a layup with 1:09 remaining. UH got the ball back with 37.7 seconds left and trailing 61-58. Rapp's 3-point attempt was off the mark but a foul on the rebound sent Christensen to the line, and he made one of two free throws to bring the 'Bows to within two with 26 seconds left. 
 
After Swenson made one of two from the line, Nemeiksa scored on a putback with 3.8 seconds showing to bring UH to within a point. Swenson made two more free throws and UH had one last opportunity to tie but Nemeiksa's desperation shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer. 
 
UH shot 48.1% from the field in the second half and finished at 44.2% for the game. But the 'Bows went 0 for 5 from behind the 3-point line after halftime and finished at 3 for 14 for the game, while UCSB went 8 for 26 from 3-point range. The 'Bows held UCSB, one of the top shooting teams in the country, to just 39.7 percent shooting from the field. 
 
The Rainbow Warriors close out their six-game homestand when they take on Cal Poly on Saturday, Jan. 4. Tipoff is 7:00 p.m. at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.