Memories are not made up entirely of victories.

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team found that out after a 78-71 loss to Boise State last night.

A crowd of 5,502 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Broncos spoil Hawai'i's "Senior Night" by clinching at least a tie for the regular-season championship of the Western Athletic Conference.

The Rainbow Warriors cut an 18-point second-half deficit to three in the final minute, but it was ultimately not enough to stop their losing streak.

"The roof was going off this place," Hawai'i senior guard Riley Luettgerodt said. "We got down 18 and battled as hard as we could to get back in it. That's the character of this team you saw tonight. It's not the good outcome we wanted, but it's still something to remember."

The 'Bows dropped to 11-16 overall with their fourth consecutive loss. Hawai'i is still in fifth place in the WAC at 7-7.

"We're not going away," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We're going to fight all the way through."

The Broncos improved to 22-7 overall and 12-3 in the conference. It was also Boise State's first ever win in Honolulu.

"It's huge, first time for our school," Boise State head coach Greg Graham said of the WAC regular-season title. "I'm 1 and 6 (in Hawai'i), but it was a good one."

Perhaps in fitting fashion, four of Hawai'i's seven seniors scored double-figure points.

Luettgerodt tied his season-high with 20 points, and also had six rebounds and five assists.

"It was my last game here, I went out and tried to be aggressive," he said.

Matt Gibson added 17 points and four assists before fouling out in the final minute. He received a standing ovation from the crowd after walking to the UH bench for the last time at home.

Bobby Nash added 10 points and 10 rebounds; Jared Dillinger scored 10.

"Obviously not the outcome we wanted," Bobby Nash said. "But the way this game went, we feel like we can play with any team in the WAC."

The Broncos controlled the lead for most of the game behind the inspired play of forward Reggie Larry.

The 6-foot-6 senior finished with game-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. He did it in the absence of starting center Matt Nelson, who did not make the trip due to an ankle injury.

"Coach told me he was going to try and give me some rest," Larry said. "I said no. We never won here before and we're trying to stay on top of the WAC."

Nelson is averaging 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. It was the first time this season the Broncos played without him.

"Reggie played all 40 minutes, he was huge," Graham said. "In the paint, we won 42-26 without (Nelson), and I wouldn't have thought we could do that before the game."

The Broncos opened the game by shooting 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from the field to take a 28-14 lead with 9:59 remaining in the first half.

But Hawai'i got back in it with a 12-1 surge to cut the Boise State lead to 29-26 with 4:36 left. Boise State eventually took a 36-30 lead at intermission.

The 'Bows tied it at 36 to open the second half, but the Broncos responded with a 12-2 surge to push their lead to 48-38. They increased it to 58-40 with 11:30 left on a dunk by Larry.

"When you're down, you have to make all kinds of adjustments," Bob Nash said. "So we made adjustments and got back in the game, but just couldn't get over that hump to be successful."

In particular, the 'Bows went with a smaller lineup, and rallied with a full-court defense. Hawai'i got as close as 64-60 with 6:22 remaining, and then 74-71 with 41 seconds remaining.

The Broncos went 6 of 10 on free throws in the final minute to clinch it.

"Some questionable calls either way and they end up pulling it out in the end," Bob Nash said.

Despite the loss, Hawai'i's seven seniors still went out in style. They were honored after the game, and showered with flower and candy lei from the fans.

Bobby Nash made a memorable exit, taking off his game jersey and putting on his father's "Fabulous Five" jersey from the 1970s.

"He keeps getting on me about being skinny," Bobby said. "But I filled his jersey out. It's like tight spandex."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.