AUGUSTA —Not many horns passed without Central Maine Community College sending at least one substitute to the scorer’s table Wednesday night.

More than once, Mustangs coach Dave Gonyea made the five-on-five, full-scale switcheroo.

Central Maine simply never found the right five to deal with the University of Maine at Augusta’s tried-and-true quintet. Starters scored all but two points for the Moose in a convincing 79-58 Yankee Conference men’s basketball victory at Augusta Civic Center.

“We were relying on what we call our ‘bomb squad,’ our pressing squad, to try to get us back in it,” Gonyea said. “We tried three different times to change the tempo and the momentum of that game.”

Instead, UMA (2-10 overall, 2-3 conference) enjoyed the only reversal of fortune all evening and made it hold up throughout.

Trailing by 10 early after a storm of Central Maine 3-pointers, the Moose went on an 18-6 run to take their first lead, 23-21, with 8:25 remaining.

Three more lead changes ensued before Wily Walter’s drive gave UMA the lead for good.

UMA switched from zone to man-to-man to counter CMCC shooters Curtis Miller and Nick Hinkley after the opening rush.

The results were stifling: Central Maine shot an erratic 11-for-39 in the first half and a frosty 5-for-29 after intermission.

“Dave always tries to wear you down with the different looks they give you,” UMA coach Jim Ford said. “We made really good adjustments to what they were presenting us.”

And the Moose — strengthened by an early-season schedule that featured NCAA Division III foes Norwich, Johnson State, Fisher, UMaine-Machias and UMaine-Fort Kent — kept feeding the Mustangs a steady diet of the same-old, same-old.

Orlando Holmes, a transfer from the University of Southern Maine sister campus, led the Moose with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“Most of our scoring has come from him,” Ford said. “We have a lot of young guys, and he has been a great leader for us. A lot of other kids stepped up tonight. This is our highest point total of the year.”

David Prior added 19 points and eight rebounds for UMA.

Walter scored nine of his 14 points in the second half to go with six rebounds and four steals. Lucas Paul put up 11 points, seven after halftime.

Miller drained four first-half 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 15 points for the Mustangs (2-9, 1-3). Hinkley added 11. Jason Hughes had nine.

UMA led 45-37 at the half before CMCC made a brief run out of the locker room. Miller and Hinkley scored back-to-back baskets in the opening minute to slice the gap to four.

The Moose embarked on an 11-2 run before CMCC reserves Mark Truss, Ariel Lezana and Ryan Baillargeon rattled off eight straight points.

“We got within five (56-51),” Gonyea said. “Then (Paul) hit a big three.”

Walter added another from beyond the arc, restoring the margin to double digits for good.

“The Division III portion of  our schedule really prepared us for the conference,” Ford said. “We went up to Norwich, got beat by 28 a couple times, but everybody had fun.”

“I think our guys probably looked at them and said, ‘UMA, they’ve been winless. We’re just going to come out here and beat them.’ You can’t do that in our league,” Gonyea said. “They were the better team tonight. They deserved to win.”

[email protected]

For more photos, click here.