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HONOLULU -- Northern Colorado basketball earned a spot on the national stage here Monday night, and the Bears didn't let the opportunity slip away in an 81-75 victory against Hawai'i in the title game of the 2009 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

Northern Colorado put together an impressive 17-0 run during the latter stages of the second half and then got some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch inside the Stan Sheriff Center to stave off a furious Rainbow Warrior rally and claim its first tournament victory since joining the ranks of NCAA Division I.

The Bears' dramatic second-half performance also helped improved them to 3-0 on a season for the time since 2000 and second time since 1984 and gave them 1,000 victories in their 107-year history.

"I'm extremely proud of this basketball team tonight," Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We set this (winning this tournament) as a team goal before we started our official practices last month, and I'm so happy for these kids that they were able to attain something they wanted from the beginning so quickly.

"We've played some pretty good basketball during our stay out here. Now we hope we can carry this momentum through to the rest of our season."

The game, the third contest in this year's nationally televised ESPN's College Hoops Tipoff Marathon, was tied at 52 with less than nine minutes remaining Monday before the Bears (3-0) showcased some defensive will and offensive grit with a 17-0 run to go ahead 69-52 with 4:28 remaining in the game.

They nearly needed every one of those unanswered points.

Hawai'i (2-1) whittled NC's lead all the way down to two, 76-74, with 22 seconds remaining, forcing the Bears to step to the line and earn this historic victory the hard way.

And they did, getting five straight free throws from senior Will Figures and junior Neal Kingman to ice the victory and add some hardware to their Hawai'i haul.

Northern Colorado senior Yahosh Bonner earned tournament MVP honors with another outstanding performance in the title game.

He finished with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, and left a lasting impression on many during the three-day event, including Hawai'i Dwain Williams, who scored 14 points in the first half Monday but just three in the second half, when Bonner had chief defensive responsibilities on him.

Figures led Northern Colorado's offense Monday night with 15 points (11 in the second half) and, and he and Chris Kaba (12 points, 5-8 FGs), joined Bonner on the all-tournament team.

"We knew this field was a good one for ust to kind of get our feet wet a little bit this year," Boyle said.  "The competition was strong, and we got to play in about as hostile environment as we're going to face this year going forward. Our kids rose to the challenge and really played the hearts out. This is the type of game that maybe we don't win last year.

"I would have liked to finish it off a little better, but at the same time, I'm so proud of our mental toughness. We preach that every day in practice, and it was on full display out there."

Northern Colorado held a 32-30 halftime advantage -- it's led at the half every game so far this season -- but Hawai'i tied the game on its first possession of the second half and pushed its lead to five, 45-40, at the 13:59 mark.

The Bears outscored the home team 41-30 from that point forward to claim the Classic title.

Kingman finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the win, and sophomore Mike Proctor had a workmanlike seven points and eight rebounds.

Junior Devon Beitzel contributed nine points, and Elliott Lloyd poured in six points off the bench.

2009 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic All-Tournament Team
Roderick Flemings, Hawai'i
Dwain Williams, Hawai'i
Will Figures, Northern Colorado
Chris Kaba, Northern Colorado
Jake Nielsen, Southern Utah
MVP: Yahosh Bonner, Northern Colorado