Just in time for Christmas, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is believing.

The Rainbow Warriors endured a week of adversity to emerge with the third-place trophy from the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic on Friday. The 'Bows went 2-1 in the Classic to improve to 6-3 overall.

"Of course, we wanted to play in the championship," senior co-captain Deonte Tatum said. "But that's the only disappointment. For all the things we went through, we still came out looking good."

Hawai'i started this season with 12 scholarship players on its roster. For Friday's game against Northwestern State, only eight scholarship players were in uniform.

"Basically, we know we're a good team now," junior guard Matt Lojeski said. "People stepped up and we know that if we lose some people down the road in the season or if we're not at full strength every night, we can still come out and compete."

The 'Bows entered the Classic without the services of guard "Little Matt" Gibson, who is still recovering from a staph infection near his chest.

On Wednesday, reserve center Milos Zivanovic quit so that he could return home to Serbia & Montenegro to try and join a professional team.

On Thursday, leading scorer Julian Sensley was diagnosed with a strained right Achilles. He did not play on Friday, ending a streak of 70 consecutive games.

"He made the call not to play and it'll be his call when he wants to come back," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said.

Sensley said: "It was bothering me for like a week, but I didn't say anything. Then it got real bad after (Thursday's) game."

On Friday, junior guard Bobby Nash decided to sit out the rest of the season so that he could apply for a medical hardship because of a sprained right shoulder.

"We're going to take him to rehab and get started on that shoulder and see if we can improve that for next year," Wallace said.

In the absence of those four players, the rest of the 'Bows earned an inspiring 80-76 victory over Northwestern State on Friday.

True freshman point guard Hiram Thompson was the biggest surprise, finishing with 15 points and four assists off the bench. It was his first significant action this season.

"Does that mean he can do that every night? Probably not, freshmen are inconsistent," Wallace said. "But that's why I tell them, as freshmen, when they get their chance, you have to make do. Then you get more of a chance."

Fellow true freshman guard Dominic Waters started for the first time in his collegiate career on Friday.

"It could have been Waters as well as Hiram because they're both good players," Wallace said.

Tatum, who is 6 feet 3, shifted to Sensley's small forward spot on Friday, allowing the freshmen to play point guard.

"We had injuries, we were tired, but we still came out and believed," Tatum said. "This was a big-time win because it shows what kind of team we really are."

The 'Bows may have to use a similar scheme this week.

Hawai'i will host North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, and then Pennsylvania on Thursday.

Sensley remains questionable for both games, and Wallace said Gibson is "probably a couple weeks away."

"We can't let any more get away at home," Wallace said. "And we have to get ourselves healthy."

As Lojeski put it: "Everybody's accustomed to getting a little playing time now. I think it brought us closer together."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.