The fewer players Hawaii had left, the more highlight-reel plays the remaining Rainbow Warriors produced.

Good thing for the Rainbows, who were nearly out of available players by the end of their 81-61 win over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH (18-9, 6-5 Big West) won consecutive games in league play for the first time this season despite having just six players remaining by the final horn.

One by one, UH’s rotation players fell by the wayside. Top scorer and rebounder Aaron Valdes was a scratch pregame because of a sprained left ankle. Guard Isaac Fleming and forward Mike Thomas were lost to foot injuries and returned to the bench area in the second half on crutches. Garrett Nevels, the team’s lone senior, picked up consecutive technicals and was ejected with 7:05 to play. Center Stefan Jovanovic fouled out with 4:37 to go.

And it didn’t matter. UH continued to move players around interchangeably and succeeded, shooting 50 percent for the game with just seven turnovers.

"We just fought hard, everybody who got in the game," said backup guard Quincy Smith, who was key in the win with 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. "Our whole mind-set was just to get this win tonight, no matter what. We had a lot of people out, but we have five. That’s all we need."

Swingman Negus Webster-Chan and point guard Roderick Bobbitt scored career highs of 18 and 17 points. Forward Stefan Jankovic had an injury scare of his own, but recovered and had 12 points and seven rebounds.

UH coach Benjy Taylor said he hadn’t been a part of a game like that before.

"It got a little scary for us there. … So I just joked with the guys, you guys are always talking about, you want some playing time. Well you’re going to get it tonight. Let’s see what you do with it."

They responded. Even seldom-used reserves Niko Filipovich and Dyrbe Enos held their own when pressed into action.

The crowd of 5,958 showed the officiating crew of Bret Hansel, Glen Mayberry and Rob Rorke no love on Valentine’s Day, and were especially vociferous with boos as the referees left the floor. The same trio issued UH two technical fouls in Thursday’s 21-point win over UC Riverside.

After Nevels’ ejection, UH managed to complete the game without further major incident, although Jankovic got a talking-to from an official after reverse dunking after being fouled on a drive.

"We tried (to look past the calls)," Webster-Chan said. "I don’t have any other comments about that."

Webster-Chan had an answer from long range every time the last-place Titans (9-16, 1-9) tried to mount a rally. He shot 6-for-12 on 3s, helping UH hit 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from distance as a team.

"I felt like every shot was going to go in," Webster-Chan said.

UH held the Titans to 35.7 percent shooting, including 4-for-21 from long range (19 percent).

Big men Jankovic and Jovanovic each picked up four fouls by the 10-minute mark of the second half, forcing them to the bench and UH to go to a very small lineup.

UH stuck with a 2-3 zone late in the game to combat the Titans’ quickness. UH held CSUF scoreless for more than six minutes of the second half, during which it went on a 10-0 run to pull away.

CSUF guard Lanerryl Johnson scored a game-high 23 points on 8-for-19 shooting. The Titans were also without their leading scorer in guard Alex Harris, who was out because of an unspecified injury.

After about two dozen alumni, including four starters of the "Fabulous Five" of the early 1970s, were on hand for the first UH alumni game in recent memory prior to UH-CSUF game. They received a standing ovation from the crowd at halftime, when UH led just 40-38.

For a moment or two, it seemed as if UH would have to pull Fabulous Fivers on the court to finish out the game.

"I’m living a dream right now. This group is amazing, man. It’s amazing," Taylor said. "I’ve been around a lot of teams … if you have your leading scorer/rebounder (not) play, those injuries, have another guy get tossed, I’ve seen a lot of teams fold. But they somehow continued to listen to the message and I’m really happy for them.

"We’ve learned how to deal with adversity very well."

Fleming injured his right ankle on a first-half collision with Jankovic and came out of halftime with crutches. Thomas emerged from the tunnel later in similar fashion after rolling an ankle.

Taylor said he didn’t know the severity of the three ankle sprains (Valdes, Fleming and Thomas) looking ahead. UH departs for road games at conference contenders UC Irvine and UC Davis this week.