A pretty finish made up for an ugly start for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team last night.

Matt Gibson's driving layup with 11 seconds remaining capped a thrilling 65-64 comeback victory by the Rainbow Warriors over San Jose State.

A crowd of 2,772 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i rally from 10 points down in the second half to improve to 6-10 overall and 2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Spartans dropped to 8-8 and 1-3, with two WAC losses to the 'Bows.

"Any wins we get at this point is good wins," Gibson said. "And every one helps us get better and more confident."

After recalling several close losses earlier this season, Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said: "Tonight, I guess the fortunes are changing and we were able to get one at home."

Gibson's winning basket provided the final points of a back-and-forth exchange between the teams in the game's closing minutes. The lead changed seven times in the final 3:39.

Gibson started with the ball near the top of the key, then dribbled past San Jose State guard DaShawn Wright, and sliced between two Spartan post players for the layup.

Gibson said the final play was designed to go to one of Hawai'i's post players — either P.J. Owsley or Bill Amis.

"We ran the set to go inside ... they took it away," Gibson said. "I was just thinking get to the middle and draw some defenders ... when I drove, nobody stepped up, so I just finished it."

Gibson and Amis finished with 14 points each to lead Hawai'i, and Bobby Nash added 13.

The Spartans got the ball to Wright on their final possession, but his jump shot came up short. Hawai'i's Jared Dillinger collected the rebound as time expired.

Dillinger was not on the court for Gibson's winning shot, but returned to play defense on SJSU's final possession.

"Jared asked for the challenge to step up and try to guard (Wright) and did an excellent job," Bob Nash said.

Wright finished with a game-high 20 points, including a jump shot that gave the Spartans a 64-63 lead with 39 seconds left.

San Jose State head coach George Nessman said he called for a timeout after that basket by Wright, but was not granted one.

"The referee wouldn't acknowledge me, then he tries to apologize," Nessman said. "I'm not suggesting that would have won the game for us. But it would have been better if we could have put our defensive team on the floor to try and defend the goal in the closing seconds of the game."

It also didn't help the Spartans that they had to play the entire second half without freshman sensation Justin Graham. The point guard — and team's leading scorer — fractured his right elbow in the closing minutes of the first half. He scored 29 points in Hawai'i's 85-79 victory at San Jose, Calif., on Jan. 5.

"We'll have to adjust to Justin being out," Nessman said. "Obviously we didn't do a good job in the second half because they were able to pressure us into a lot of mistakes that I don't think they would have been able to do had Justin been on the floor."

With Graham on the floor, the Spartans made nine of their first 11 shots and raced to a 20-9 lead.

In an effort to inspire the 'Bows, Nash used all 10 players he had in uniform in a five-for-five platoon system midway through the first half.

"For the most part, we got everybody's attention that you have to play hard and be willing to work in this game," Nash said.

One player who got the message was Amis. He scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, including five crucial points in the final 1:38.

"It shows me how hard I have to work in the post to get good looks," said Amis, who also grabbed seven rebounds. "I realize what it takes now."

Nash said of Amis: "For the first time, he really worked like he wanted the ball in the post as opposed to getting pushed around. He did an awesome job for us."

The Spartans took a 30-24 lead at intermission, and pushed it back up to 10 early in the second half. The 'Bows caught the Spartans on a 3-pointer by Bobby Nash with 3:39 remaining to set up the see-saw finish.

Hawai'i shot just 35.5 percent in the first half, but 46.7 percent in the second half. The 'Bows also went a frustrating 1 of 8 on free throws in the first half, but came back to make 11 of 14 in the second half, including nine in a row to end the game.

Hawai'i also got out-rebounded 41-30, but committed a season-low nine turnovers.

"I'm not trying to take away what Hawai'i did. They made a great comeback, they held tough and they won the game," Nessman said. "But there are some points in the game that I have a right to be upset about. Not being able to get a timeout after you score in a critical situation is a pretty big mistake."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.