RUSTON, La. — In a game of ebb and flow, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team couldn't get that last surge it needed.

Dominic Waters' 3-point attempt at the buzzer looked like it was going in, but the ball circled the rim and bounced out as Louisiana Tech took a 70-67 victory over the Rainbow Warriors at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The 'Bows fell to 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the Western Athletic Conference with their second road loss in three days. LaTech improved to 4-10 and 2-0.

Hawai'i trailed by as many as 13 points with 4:23 remaining in the game, but P.J. Owsley's jumper cut the Bulldog advantage to 70-67 with 6 seconds left.

The 'Bows quickly fouled LaTech's Terry Parker on the inbounds pass, and Parker failed to make either of his free-throw attempts. Owsley grabbed the rebound after the second miss and passed to Waters, who pushed it upcourt.

Waters, who launched his shot from the top of the left wing, said he thought it was going in.

"I watched it the whole way," Waters said. "It went in, and then it crawled back out.

"In the timeout after Owsley made his shot, I asked coach if he wanted a three or a quick two when we got the ball back and he said go for the three. I didn't think about anything. The shot opened up and I just let it go. I thought it was going in."

The 'Bows took a 31-30 halftime lead and increased it to 35-30 with 19:16 remaining. But the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish.

After falling behind 63-50, the 'Bows got back in it with a 9-0 run that cut the LaTech lead to 63-59 with 2:27 remaining.

With 20 seconds remaining, Waters scored on a jump shot, got fouled, and made the ensuing free throw to close it to 68-65.

Parker then made two free throws to give LaTech what proved to be an insurmountable 70-65 lead with 14 seconds remaining.

But Hawai'i had several chances earlier after leading by as many as 12 in the first half.

The game of streaks and surges saw the 'Bows open with a 9-0 run before the Bulldogs grabbed a little momentum, cutting the Hawai'i lead to 9-8 with 13:15 left in the half.

Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said a defensive change by the Bulldogs ended Hawai'i's initial surge.

"They called a timeout and started pressuring us more," Wallace said. "If there's no pressure on us we're fun to watch, but when you press us, we throw the ball away too much. The key to our offense is that all five players have to touch the ball and right now we're not mentally tough enough to let that happen."

After hitting four of their first six shots to open the game, the 'Bows cooled off and finished the first half with a 37.5 shooting percentage (9 of 24) compared to LaTech's 37.1 percent (13 of 35).

Hawai'i outshot LaTech in the second half, 55.2 percent (16 of 29) to 53.3 percent (16 of 30).

But the 'Bows couldn't get the last one they needed.

"It's just one of those things ... one of those nights," Wallace said. "They outworked us and won it."

Opening conference play with two road losses with home games against Fresno State and Nevada this week concerns Wallace.

"We really needed this one," he said. "We needed to go home with the split with games against two of the best teams in the WAC coming up. It doesn't get any easier."

Ahmet Gueye led the 'Bows with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds to lead Hawai'i to a 38-32 advantage on the boards.

Matt Lojeski added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and Waters contributed 12 points off the bench.

"(Lojeski) didn't get enough touches, especially early on," Wallace said. "We don't respect his shooting enough as a team. We've got to start finding him more."

LaTech has won seven of the past eight games against Hawai'i, including the past six. The Bulldogs' six consecutive victories over the 'Bows have each come by three points or fewer.

LaTech coach Keith Richard wasn't revealing his secret of recent success against the 'Bows.

"These games have really been something to watch in recent years," Richard said. "I don't know if I know exactly what it is, but it's something. We'll meet them again and I don't want to give up a pretty good recipe. But it's something in the styles of play that has somehow worked."

Trey McDowell led the Bulldogs with a season-high 22 points, while Chad McKenzie added 18 points.