LEWISTON — The average margin of victory of Lewiston’s first three games was a little more than five points, so the Blue Devils were happy to savor a 30-point win over Cony on Tuesday night.

Lewiston coach Tim Farrar was happy they didn’t decide to start savoring it too soon.

The Blue Devils flew out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter and kept the pressure on the Rams in an impressive 69-39 win. Abdi Hussein sparked the fast start with 10 of his game-high 16 points (and eight rebounds) in the first quarter. Steven Patrie added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“I remember four years ago we had a start just like that against them. I think we were up 23-4 at the end of the first quarter and lost,” Farrar said. “So I was not relaxed until about midway through the fourth quarter.”

Lewiston (3-1) didn’t relax on defense, either. Cony shot 29 percent for the game and scored just four field goals in the second half.

“We talk. Our talk on defense has gotten so much better,” Hussein said. “When everyone talks, we always seem to get the stop.”

“I don’t know what Cony team showed up tonight but it surely wasn’t the one that played Oxford Hills last Friday night,” said Cony coach Tim Bonsant, whose team beat Oxford Hills, 63-51, after the Vikings edged Lewiston in the season-opener. “Of course, we couldn’t make a shot. We missed 13 layups. They just shot lights out.”

Indeed, Lewiston dropped 11 of 19 shots in the first quarter, including an old-school hook shot by Hussein, who scored from inside and outside (two 3-pointers) during the opening salvo.

“Thanks to the coaches and my teammates, I think I’ve really improved in the post,” Hussein said. “They give me tips all  the time. I feel like I have a lot of go-to moves now.”

“Everyone was shooting great, whether it was threes or whether it was twos,” he added. “We were just on.”

Josh Thomas (five points, seven assists) put the Devils in front for good with a 3-pointer, then made a nifty no-look pass to Hussein on the right wing for a 3-pointer that made it 10-6.

Donne Agossou (nine points, five rebounds) added a runner in transition and a 3-pointer, one of seven by Lewiston on the night, as the Devils opened up a 21-6 lead before Cony (1-3) finally broke up the 17-0 run on a hoop by Ben Lucas (team-high 10 points and seven rebounds).

“Tonight, we finished,” Farrar said. “We’ve missed some shots against other teams, and tonight we finished just about everything.”

Led by Isaiah Harris (eight points, three blocks) and Quintarian Brown (eight points, five rebounds), Lewiston’s bench maintained the energy level into the second quarter. Hussein found a wide-open Harris for a layup on the back end of the fast break and Thomas set up Hussein and Patrie for inside hoops as the Devils took a 42-25 lead into intermission.

“I’m hoping they can play like that the rest of the year,” Farrar said. “I know you can’t shoot like that, but when the ball moves like that, we’re tough to guard.”

The shots started falling less frequently for the Devils in the third quarter (3-for-9), but the defense remained constant.

“We’ve brought that every night,” Farrar said. “I have absolutely no complaints with that so far.”

Lewiston will face arch rival Edward Little in Auburn on Friday. The Red Eddies beat Cony, 67-44, last week.

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