The Rainbow Classic basketball tournament is all about drama.

It is buzzer-beaters and prayer shots. It is big shots and key players.

And, that's usually just the semifinal and championship rounds of this 42-year-old perennial. Not the first round.

But leave it to the host University of Hawai'i to turn the opening night of the four-day tournament into a gripping show unto itself, rallying for a 66-63 victory over Loyola Marymount.

Not until freshman Dominic Waters made two free throws with 11 seconds remaining, and Chris Botez blocked Brandon Worthy's shot at the buzzer was there a collective exhaling among the assembled 5,019 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

What was supposed to be a routine warmup for bigger things ahead turned into much more of a thriller than the partisan gathering expected. Or, the Rainbow Warriors really wanted.

Often the Rainbow Warriors experience a so-called "Rainbow Classic letdown." But it is usually after the tournament. Not on opening night. After four consecutive Rainbow Classic championships, the 'Bows' bid for a fifth nearly ended before it began

The first round is where the 'Bows usually work out the kinks. Last night there were plenty that needed working on and barely enough time to do it.

For 39 minutes, as their 3-point shots clanged and their free-throw shooting struggled, the 'Bows found themselves in a battle for survival that nobody saw coming.

"We didn't come out ready to play," Riley Wallace, the UH coach, admitted in a TV interview afterward. At times, they didn't look ready to coach, either.

Indeed, an LMU team that came in at 3-6 and as a 15-point underdog on some Las Vegas betting lines nearly bounced the 'Bows into the dreaded afternoon consolation bracket for the first time since 1995. That potential ignominy stared at UH from as much as a 10-point deficit and loomed as a very real possibility until the 'Bows finally got the last lead, 59-58, with 4 minutes, 5 seconds left.

Instead, the 'Bows escaped with their 13th consecutive victory in this tournament and will play former Western Athletic Conference foe Colorado State, an 87-69 winner over Western Michigan, tomorrow night in the semis.

And, now that they presumably have their breath back, hopefully the 'Bows will do something about their 19-of-37 free-throw shooting and 1-of-8 3-point shooting, both of which kept them in danger throughout.

For if this night on the brink taught the 'Bows anything — and it should have underlined a lot — it is that they are not the type of team right now that is capable of letting up on anybody and winning.

Not on the road, for sure, as trips to Las Vegas and Milwaukee have shown and, now, not at home, either.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.