Once again, the Hawaii basketball team caught the Roadrunners.

The Rainbow Warriors made clutch shots from the field and at the free-throw line to pull away to an 81-70 victory over Cal State Bakersfield at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center tonight.

A crowd of 3,194 saw the Rainbow Warriors withstand a shooting barrage from one of the league’s most prolific scorers to split the two-game homestand and improve to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big West. The ’Bows won their seventh in a row over the Roadrunners.

A week ago, Jemel Jones scored 45 points to help the Roadrunners overcome a 23-point deficit against Cal State Northridge. On Saturday night, Jones scored eight points in a row to close the Roadrunners to 66-63 with 5:22 to play. But Jones, who finished with 29 points, including 15 after the intermission, would not score again. Jones missed his final three shots, was called for traveling, and picked up his fourth and fifth fouls to exit with a minute to play.

UH’s Gytis Nemeiksa and Kody Williams hit two 3s late in the second half to deny any CSUB comeback. Nemeiksa opened the game with a 3, and Williams added back-to-back 3-pointers as the ’Bows scored 12 of the first 16 points at the first media timeout. Late in the game, Williams was blocked on an open 3-point attempt. He then drained a 3 at the top of the key to make it 73-65 with 1:53 to play.

“Teammates and coaches give me the green light to shoot those 3s,” Williams said. “I let it fly with confidence. That’s the biggest thing for me.”

After the block, Williams said, “I wanted to get that one back.” He finished with 16 points.

The ’Bows hit 15 of 18 free throws in the second half. UH center Tanner Christensen, who had struggled at the line earlier in the season, scored 11 of his 17 points on free throws. He was 11-for-13 from the line, including 6-for-6 in the second half.

“He’s actually worked really hard on it,” said UH assistant coach Gibson Johnson, who coached Christensen at Utah Tech last year. “He’s been in the gym getting extra reps, and that’s something we really worked on. We wanted to make sure down the stretch he’s reliable from the free-throw line.”

The Roadrunners entered as one of the league’s most determined hunters of rebounds. And while they were able to grab long rebounds off missed deep shots, they were hindered by foul trouble. CSUB forward Fidelis Okereke was assessed his third foul with 11:24 left in the first half. Okereke picked up his fourth foul four minutes into the second half. Backup center Shakir Odunewu also was in early and late foul trouble. CSUB coach Rod Barnes had to summon Cameron Clark, who appeared in only two of the Roadrunners’ first 18 games.

CSUB loosened the man-to-man defense, using a defender as a rover. Jones often sagged off a UH point guard to help out in the low post. During one sequence, the Roadrunners sent triple coverage on Christensen.

“The double and the triple is something he’s been used to for the last three years,” Johnson said of Christensen, who grabbed nine rebounds, drew nine fouls and assisted on three baskets. “The free-throw shooting is a big step in the right direction. Now there’s not a part of his game that you worry about.”

Christensen entered as the league’s most efficient shooter, hitting 71.8% of his field-goal attempts.

The Roadrunners, who entered hitting 40.4% of their 3s, were 4-for-15 from beyond the arc.

The ’Bows go on the road to play UC Davis on Thursday and UC Irvine on Saturday.