FULLERTON, Calif. >> Hawaii began Big West Conference play by watching a 16-point lead nearly evaporate in the final nine minutes.

But late heroics from Eddie Stansberry and Drew Buggs rescued the Rainbow Warriors, who escaped Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym with a 75-69 victory Thursday night.

Stansberry scored a game-high 25 points, 18 in the second half and eight in the final 6 minutes, 39 seconds — including a pivotal running jumper with 43.9 seconds to play. Buggs added 17 points, including two free throws in the bonus situation with 23.4 seconds left.

“When you have Drew Buggs and Eddie Stansberry late in games, you feel good about being able to take care of the ball, get it in their hands and get to the line,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “That’s what happened.”

UH (10-5, 1-0) held a 64-48 advantage with 8:42 remaining when the Titans (5-11, 0-1) began using their superior quickness to increase the tempo. As a result, the ’Bows scored only seven points in an eight-minute span. That stretch included a period of 3:29 when UH recorded just one point and another lasting 2:15 when the ’Bows failed to score.

“Obviously, they were trying to speed things up, even defensively, trying to speed us up, create turnovers or create a rushed play,” Stansberry said. “They were feeling the momentum. They were coming back in the game.”

The increased pace ravaged UH’s height. Three forwards — 7-foot Dawson Carper, 6-foot-9 Bernardo da Silva and 6-foot-9 Zigmars Raimo — each committed their fourth foul in the final 4:57, with Carper fouling out with 1:07 to play.

With the visitors’ height stifled, Fullerton’s Jackson Rowe started to dominate. The 6-foot-7 Rowe, who missed the season’s first 11 games because of a knee injury, scored 11 of his 16 points and grabbed four of his nine rebounds in the final 8:30.

Carper’s fifth foul enabled Fullerton to narrow its deficit to 69-68 on two free throws from Austen Awosika. But after Ganot called a timeout with one minute to play, Stansberry made the shot of the game.

The senior caught da Silva’s pass, dribbled into the lane and launched a teardrop jumper from 11 feet, extending UH’s lead to 71-68 with 43.9 seconds left.

“They guarded it well,” Stansberry said. “So our big man, Bernardo, held the ball. I tried to mislead my defender one way and catch it, and I was able to get into the paint.

Fullerton’s Devon Clare tried to tie the score 16 seconds later on a 3-pointer but missed. Buggs grabbed the rebound, got fouled by Tory San Antonio and made both foul shots with 23.4 seconds left to extend the margin to 73-68.

Samuta Avea scored 11 points, while Da Silva finished with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Awosika led Fullerton with 22 points.