Five-foot, 10-inch Shaquille Stokes gritting his teeth and defiantly driving the lane against the 6-10, 268-pound Tshilidzi Nephawe.

Miah Ostrowski fighting for breath — and rebounds — in what became a 40-minute, 13-assist effort.

Thanks to Friday night and all the Rainbow Warriors put forth in a from-the-heart performance, that is what we will take away from this University of Hawaii men’s basketball season.

That the season ended too soon in a 92-81 loss to New Mexico State in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas was disappointing.

But not the intrepid way the ’Bows went about trying to prolong this campaign and only begrudgingly accepting a 16-16 finish.

Their resilience and determination in the face of one of the most debilitating starts to a game in school history — 17-0 — is the image that should stay with us for some time and carry them into the 2012-13 season.

They didn’t have the school’s all-time 3-point shooter, Zane Johnson. And they weren’t supposed to have a chance, either.

Yet for the better part of 20 minutes, even after digging a 22-2 deficit, these ’Bows made us believe victory was a possibility and capitulation was not an option.

When it seemed most like they were in for a replay of that 42-point (115-73) demolition by the same Aggies two weeks ago, they showed us a tenacity that had been lacking down the final stretch of the regular season.

A team that should have been dead right there in the Orleans Arena refused to acknowledge it to themselves, the 500 or so Hawaii partisans on hand or a statewide TV audience at home.

When it seemed like they needed a mercy rule to extricate themselves from the most shattering of starts, the ’Bows instead summoned the will power to make a game of it. And what a game it was, as they closed to one point (61-60) with 10 minutes, 40 seconds remaining on Hauns Brereton’s baseline bucket.

They made us believe that Cinderella could wear green.

When the Aggies put some more room between them, raising the lead back up to as many as eight points, the ’Bows gnawed back to close to three points (76-73) before their comeback finally succumbed.

The 25-9 Aggies got their place in the WAC final and did it by the 11-point Las Vegas oddsmakers’ line. But not without a scare that was as remarkable as it was palpable. Not without surviving a season-best 21 points from Stokes and an ironman effort up and down the UH lineup.

We can mourn UH’s pratfall of a start to the game, and ponder for days the what-ifs. What if, for example, the night had not begun in such a blaze of turnovers and backboard pacifism? What if the ’Bows had only found their equilibrium a couple of minutes earlier?

But after 32 games, UH has likely played its last one this season. After 33 seasons as a member of the conference, UH has played its last WAC basketball game.

Let it be remembered the ’Bows left the WAC and the court with honor.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.