Rest bested rust in the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team’s 72-67 road victory over Long Beach State.

A crowd of 762 in the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., saw the Rainbow Warriors drain 15 3-point shots in winning their Big West opener.

“Nothing better than a road win,” UH coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame phone call. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

Because of four cancellations, including their first three scheduled Big West games, the ’Bows had been idle for 16 days because of an aggregation of injuries and COVID-19-related circumstances.

Point guard Noel Coleman tallied 22 points, power forward Jerome Desrosier recorded a double-double, and the ’Bows connected on 44.1% of their 3s. The ’Bows entered the season with a single-game high of 14 treys. They have topped that total twice this year, beginning with 18 3-pointers against Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 8.

The ’Bows resumed practicing a week ago, and gradually added to the active roster in the days leading to Saturday’s matinee. During Friday’s practice, the ’Bows set a team record for successful 3-point shots in a four-minute drill.

“It carried over into (Saturday),” Ganot said of the ’Bows’ 58.3% accuracy on 3s in the second half.

Coleman led the way, from a distance, going 6-for-11 from behind the arc. Desrosier, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and reserve wing Zoar Nedd each hit three 3s.

“He wears a lot of hats for us,” Ganot said of Nedd, a walk-on. “He knows how to play. He’s been in our program for four years. He went from a blender — a guy who kind of just moves the ball — to a shooter. That’s a product of the work he’s put in.”

Bernardo da Silva, a 6-foot-9 post with a 7-foot-2 wing span, played for the first time in six weeks. Da Silva, who missed six of the ’Bows’ first nine games, has fully healed from a hand injury. He was in the opening lineup and finished with nine rebounds.

“We’ve been monitoring him every day,” Ganot said. “We went through the no-contact (phase), then pads, then contact. He just got better and better. He was comfortable (with returning), and our medical team was comfortable. And here he is. It was awesome to see him back there. It was a step in the right direction for him. You saw him get comfortable as the game went along. He had a great second half (six points, four rebounds).”

The teams opened with contrasting strategies. The ’Bows went big, with a frontcourt of da Silva, the 6-8 Desrosiers and 6-10 Kamaka Hepa. UH’s intent was to counter the Beach’s rim-attacking, four-guard lineup. On the other end, the Beach packed their defense to offset UH’s height, often leaving elbow room for the perimeter shooters.

“The key was to take care of the ball, transition defense, not bailing them out with fouls,” Ganot said. “We were able to do that. When they made their late run, all the above happened again. They got to the rim. We turned it over. We were pleased at how we did for a lot of the game. We’ll clean up and work on those things.”

The Beach cut a 16-point deficit to 71-67 with 15 seconds left. But JoVon McClanahan hit one of two free throws for the ’Bows, and the Beach missed their final two shots, including Aboubacar Traore’s putback attempt as time expired.

The 5-5 ’Bows play host to UC Irvine on Thursday in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.