A Christmas tree might still look good without a star on it, but it's just not complete.

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was sort of like that yesterday in an 84-75 loss to Saint Mary's in the third-place game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

A Christmas afternoon crowd of 2,538 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Rainbow Warriors drop to 6-6, including a 1-2 record and fourth-place finish in the eight-team Diamond Head Classic.

The 'Bows played without star forward Roderick Flemings, who was not in uniform due to a knee injury he suffered in Hawai'i's previous game on Wednesday.

"That's a big loss for us," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "It's just not the same when you don't have your strong go-to guy."

In Flemings' absence, the 'Bows got a career-best performance from Dwain Williams.

Replacing Flemings in the starting lineup, Williams scored 36 points, including 29 in the second half. He shot 8 of 18 from the field, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range, and 16 of 18 on free throws.

"I just came out and played," said Williams, a 6-foot junior. "That's how I really play. I saw we were kind of down and I wanted to play my game."

The 36 points was the third-highest total for a Hawai'i player in the Sheriff Center. Flemings scored 37 in a game last season, as did Tes Whitlock in 1994.

Williams scored 25 in the game's final 11 minutes, when the 'Bows were in catch-up mode.

"We couldn't afford to run offense and use too much of the clock," Nash said. "He was making some plays, so we decided to turn him loose and let him go ahead and make some plays."

Ultimately, it was not enough to match the balanced attack of Saint Mary's.

Omar Samhan led the Gaels with 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, and four teammates scored in double figures. Mickey McConnell had 17 points and six assists, Ben Allen scored 15, and Matthew Dellavedova and Clint Steindl scored 12 each.

The Gaels improved to 11-2, including 2-1 in the tournament. They are in the "others receiving votes" of this week's Top 25 polls.

"They're a smart team," Hawai'i forward Petras Balocka said of the Gaels. "They make you pay for every mistake. They're probably a (NCAA) tournament team and that makes this a tough loss because we could have won."

Balocka contributed 12 points and nine rebounds for the 'Bows. Hiram Thompson and Paul Campbell added nine points each.

Hawai'i finished with a .480 field goal percentage, but its 16 turnovers led directly to 30 points for the Gaels.

"We had to play well," Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett said. "Didn't ever feel like we could get away from them."

Even without Flemings, the 'Bows matched the Gaels shot for shot in the early going. Hawai'i took its last lead of the game at 18-16 with 9:30 remaining in the first half.

Saint Mary's responded with a 12-0 run to go ahead 28-18. Samhan, a 6-foot-11 center, sparked the surge with a steal and length-of-the-court drive for a dunk.

The Gaels eventually took a 37-33 lead at intermission and stayed in front the entire second half.

Saint Mary's increased its lead to as many as 15 points midway through the second half.

Williams then led a late Hawai'i charge that cut the lead to six in the final minute. His 3-pointer with 24.9 seconds remaining cut the Saint Mary's lead to 79-73.

However, the Gaels went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line after that to clinch the win. Saint Mary's went 29 of 31 on free throws in the game.

"It was just difficult for us to get (defensive) stops," Williams said. "I thought we did a good job, for the most part, in the whole game. We had a lot of intensity and stuff like that. But the main part is it was just hard for us to get a stop. We would score, then they would come down to score."

Bennett said he was aware of Williams' offensive potential prior to the game.

"I've seen him since he was like eighth grade," Bennett said. "We were ready, but he still gave us fits and played well. I thought he kept them in it."

Williams was the leading scorer in the tournament, finishing with 67 points in the three games.

"That's all I wanted to do was win," he said. "I just felt it was best for me to keep attacking."

Flemings, who averages 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, suffered a bruised knee in the second half of a loss to UNLV in the semifinals of the tournament.

"That was a huge loss for them," Bennett said. "I think he probably is their best player. Bad break for them ... would have been a different game with him."

The 'Bows also played the final 10 minutes without point guard Thompson, who appeared to receive an inadvertent poke in the eye.

"We fought hard with whoever was out there," Balocka said. "We just didn't have enough time or energy to finish it."

The game was televised nationally on ESPN2, and it was a more respectable performance for the 'Bows than their previous TV game. On Wednesday, the 'Bows got blown away from start to finish in a 77-53 loss to UNLV.

"We did all right," Nash said. "We were in the game. But I'm not satisfied because we didn't win the game."

The 'Bows will not have much time to dwell on their last two losses. They will play another nonconference game on Monday, when they host Northwestern State.

"We have to stay together, it's a long season," Williams said. "We have 18, 19 more games. We just have to come back and get better, move on from this. The tournament is over. The next game is what we focus on."

The Western Athletic Conference season will start on Jan. 2, when the 'Bows host Idaho.

"We can't look back and say what if we did this, what if we did that," Balocka said. "We have another game against Northwestern State, and then WAC is coming up. We have to win those games, that's all."