Fresno St. 70, Hawaii 65

2/21/2008 12:41 AM

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -Kevin Bell scored a game-high 27 points, including four straight free throws in the final four seconds, as Fresno State needed a late surge to defeat Hawaii 70-65 on Wednesday night.

Eddie Miller added 10 points and Bell had nine assists for Fresno State (12-15 overall, 5-8 Western Athletic Conference), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Bill Amis and Riley Luettgerodt had 14 points apiece for Hawaii (11-13, 7-5), which blew a seven-point lead down the stretch. Matt Gibson added 13.

The Rainbow Warriors led 62-55 with 3:20 remaining before Hector Hernandez, Bell and Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Bulldogs. Miller's 3 with 1:22 left put Fresno State ahead 64-63.

After both teams traded turnovers, Gibson sank two free throws to put Hawaii ahead 65-64 with 23 seconds left.

But Fresno State wasn't done yet. With 12 seconds remaining, Dwight O'Neil drew a foul underneath the basket on Hawaii's Jared Dillinger and hit both free throws to put the Bulldogs back in front for good.

Bell sealed the victory, Fresno State's second in its last seven games, by going 4 of 4 from the foul line in the final four seconds.

Fresno State trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half before closing with an 11-0 run. Bell's 3-pointer with three seconds left put the Bulldogs ahead 31-30 at halftime.

Despite going scoreless in the final 4:57, Hawaii still shot 58.3 percent in the first half compared to 31.0 percent for Fresno State.

Bell had a game-high 11 points and four assists in the first half. Luettgerodt had eight points and four assists for Hawaii.