The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team came up one surge short in a game of surges with Fresno State yesterday in Fresno, Calif.

The Bulldogs ended the game with a 15-3 run to defeat the Rainbow Warriors, 70-65.

An announced crowd of 10,097 at the Save Mart Center watched Fresno State avenge a loss to Hawai'i last month.

The 'Bows dropped to 11-13 overall and 7-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. They are still in fifth place in the nine-team WAC.

The Bulldogs improved to 12-15 and are in sixth in the conference at 5-8.

"It was going back and forth, back and forth, and we put ourselves in position to win it at the end," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "But I thought our decision-making down the stretch cost us."

The 'Bows had a 65-64 lead with 23 seconds remaining after Matt Gibson made two free throws.

But Fresno State went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line after that to take the victory.

Trailing 66-65, Gibson missed a 3-point attempt from the corner with around nine seconds remaining.

"We wanted to run a set (play), or at least get a timeout," Nash said. "I thought there was enough time, but Matt thought he had the shot and put it up a little quick."

Earlier, Hawai'i led by as many as 10 in the first half, then trailed by as many as seven early in the second half, then led by as many as seven late in the second half.

"When we ran our offense, we were getting what we wanted," Nash said. "But we didn't stay with the system as the game went along."

Riley Luettgerodt had a solid overall game for the 'Bows, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while playing all 40 minutes.

"I thought Riley gave us a great effort," Nash said. "He really worked hard on the boards, and we out-rebounded them."

Three other Hawai'i players scored in double figures.

Bill Amis had 14 on 7-of-9 shooting, and also grabbed seven rebounds. Gibson had 13 points and four assists, and also played the full 40 minutes. Bobby Nash had 11 points and eight rebounds.

UH also got six points and four rebounds from P.J. Owsley, who missed the three previous games with a knee injury.

The score was tied at 17, but Hawai'i went on a 13-3 run to take a 30-20 lead with 4:57 remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs responded with an 11-0 surge to take a 31-30 lead at intermission. They opened the second half with an 8-2 run to increase the lead to 39-32.

Hawai'i rallied to take a 62-55 lead on a dunk by Amis with 3:20 remaining. It would be Hawai'i's last field goal of the game.

The Bulldogs' final surge was highlighted by 3-pointers from Hector Hernandez, Bell and Eddie Miller.

"They weren't wide open — I thought our defense was OK," Nash said. "They just hit them at the right time. The problem was we didn't respond on our (offensive) end."

Fresno State took the lead for good at 66-65 on two free throws by Dwight O'Neil with 12 seconds left.

Nash said he thought Dillinger should not have been called for a foul on the play that sent O'Neil to the free-throw line.

"Jared made what we thought was a good defensive play," Nash said. "But we can't complain about that now."

After Gibson's missed 3, Bell made four free throws in the closing seconds for the final points. Bell finished with 27 points and nine assists.

"We wanted to come of age in this game and make a statement by showing we could win on the road," Nash said. "But we're just going to have to put it behind us now and try to win the rest."

The 'Bows will bus to Riverside, Calif. today. They will play a nonconference game at UC Riverside on Saturday.