The "w" the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team got last night stood for "whew" more than anything else.

The Rainbow Warriors got a closer-than-expected 66-60 victory over North Carolina A&T.

A crowd of 4,260 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the 'Bows improve to 7-3. The Aggies remained winless at 0-9.

"It disappoints me that we're not as sharp as we should be at this stage," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "But it's a win."

After 30 minutes of uninspired play, the 'Bows finally held off the Aggies in the game's final 10 minutes.

"Even though we came out with a win, we're still down on ourselves," senior co-captain Julian Sensley said. "It's disappointing to come out and play like this."

Sensley led the second-half charge, and finished with a game-high 18 points.

Three other 'Bows scored in double figures: Matt Lojeski had 16, including six free throws in the final minute, and "Big Matt" Gipson and Ahmet Gueye scored 13 each.

Gipson also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of this season. The 'Bows out-rebounded the Aggies, 40-35.

"I think we just got by on talent," Sensley said. "If we were playing a WAC team right now, we might have lost this game."

The 'Bows trailed for almost the entire first half, and fell behind by five early in the second half.

"No excuses," Wallace said. "We just have to get better prepared mentally to play. Mentally, we just weren't in the game."

Sensley scored 11 during a seven-minute stretch in the second half when the 'Bows increased their lead from one to 13. His 3-pointer gave Hawai'i a 59-46 lead with 4:16 remaining.

"I kind of got in a zone right there and was able to take over," he said.

Wallace said: "I got on him a little bit. And he did pick it up in the second half."

The Aggies were playing their fifth consecutive road game, but they never relented.

The Aggies got as close as four in the closing seconds, but Lojeski kept the 'Bows ahead with his free throws.

Hawai'i shot just 39.3 percent from the field for the game, and committed a season-high 21 turnovers.

NC A&T head coach Jerry Eaves said he stuck with a shorter lineup to stymie Hawai'i's pass-oriented offense.

The 'Bows started four players 6 feet 6 and taller. The Aggies did not start any player taller than 6-6.

"I think that our size affected them," Eaves said. "When they wanted to run their offense, we put a lot of pressure on the ball."

The plan worked early, as the 'Bows struggled in the first half. They shot just 25.7 percent from the field (9 of 35), including 14.3 percent (2 of 14) from 3-point range.

"That's where they're getting a little bit selfish with it, I think," Wallace said of his team. "They're not looking to run the offense like they were earlier."

A 3-pointer by Sensley just before the halftime buzzer tied the score at 27.

The Aggies jumped to a 34-29 lead to open the second half, but the 'Bows responded with a 10-2 run to take a 39-36 lead with 12:42 remaining.

Hawai'i never lost the lead after that. A one-handed dunk by Sensley with 9:37 remaining gave the 'Bows control for good at 47-40 with 9:37 remaining.

The 'Bows did play with a depleted bench. Three key reserves were not in uniform: guard "Little Matt" Gibson is still recovering from a staph infection; guard Bobby Nash is out for the season with an injured shoulder; center Chris Botez has injured ribs.

"You look around the locker room, there's eight or nine guys in there. It's just empty," Sensley said. "The atmosphere is kind of hard to get up for a game."

With no true "big men" in reserve, Gipson said the starters played with more caution last night.

"We're thinking too much," he said. "We're worried about our injuries. Usually, you go out there and you don't feel anything."

Sensley returned last night after missing the previous game with a strained right Achilles.

"I was up for this game; missing the last one, I was hungry to get on the court," he said. "But we're sitting there playing tentative because of the limited guys that we do have."

Jason Wills led the Aggies with 17 points. Trahern Chaplin added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Demetrius Guions had 13 points.

It was only the third time this season that NC A&T lost by single digits.

"Because we couldn't stop them early on and set the pace of the game, they built confidence as the game went on," Wallace said of the Aggies. "It's hard to get across to your team that they're 0-8 but better than that, and we saw that."

The 'Bows will play another non-conference game tomorrow when it hosts the University of Pennsylvania.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.