Two nights after dropping an overtime game against Montana State, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team came up empty on a pair of possessions late in the second half Tuesday, losing 65-62 against Hawaii at the Stan Sherrif Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Trailing by two points with seconds remaining, freshman guard Derek Jackson’s pass went off a cutting Trey Zeigler’s hands out of bounds. After Hawaii’s Jasten Thomas missed a free throw, a half-court heave from Jackson did not fall, dropping the Chippewas to 1-2 on the season and a third place finish in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

“Like I told our guys, we’re going to be a good team,” said CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler. “Eventually good teams win these one-possession games. We were in three (close) situations here, and I don’t know how many teams in the country say they’ve been consecutive games where they’ve had a chance to win.”

Trailing 54-48 with less than eight minutes to go, CMU went on a 9-2 run to take the lead heading into the final media timeout. After trading leads back and forth in the final few minutes, the Rainbow Warriors held on to a two-point lead entering into the final 60 seconds.

But Jackson, who finished the game with eight points and four steals, picked the pocket of Hawaii’s Hiram Thompson and was intentionally fouled. After splitting a pair of free throws, the Chippewas got the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

Trey Zeigler, with the team spread on the court, took the ball one-on-one but came up short on a 10-foot runner in the lane.

Zeigler finished with a game-high 24 points, while also recording five rebounds.

“I’m pleased with the fact that he’s been consistent,” Ernie Zeigler said. “He has an ability to do some things offensively for us, but he has a ways to go, particularly defensively. He has lapses, and for him 37 minutes is a whole lot to try to handle the ball and stay locked in defensively.”

Hawaii (3-0) shot 53.8 percent from the floor for the game, compared to 38.2 percent for CMU.

Foul trouble hampered the team in the second half, as the Rainbow Warriors went 15-of-20 from the free throw line. CMU went to the line just four times.

“While we were fighting and battling to get good shots, they were at the foul line,” Zeigler said. “They were able to create the advantage to put themselves at the foul line. That was probably the difference in terms of us going back and forth.”

Senior Jalin Thomas, named to the all-tournament team, finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Junior Andre Coimbra chipped in eight points.

Senior forward Bill Amis, one of four players to score in double figures, had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hawaii.

The Chippewas arrive back in town today before having to turn around 48 hours later and travel to Mobile, Ala., to play South Alabama at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“Even though we came out of this 1-2, it’s really clear that we have something here,” Zeigler said. “I told our guys not to get too down because we have to get ready for this weekend.”