BANGOR – The Husson College men’s basketball team is working on re-establishing its collective confidence.

The Eagles, who have struggled early this season, want to walk onto the court with their familiar swagger, believing they’re going to win.

Husson seized on that theme Sunday, building an early lead that resulted in a 74-58 victory over the University of Southern Maine in the first round of the Maine Event at Newman Gym.

Coach Warren Caruso’s 3-5 Eagles play Colby College of Waterville (8-1) in tonight’s 7 o’clock championship game. The White Mules advanced with a 100-83 win over Saint Joseph’s of Standish.

The Huskies (3-6) and the Monks (5-4) play in the 5 p.m. consolation contest.

Husson started strong against USM and maintained its aggressive and emotional play throughout. The win avenged a 77-68 loss in Gorham back on Nov. 28.

“I think the energy that we played with really was what we were looking for, and part of that was confidence,” Caruso said. “We’ve got to step on the floor with the thought that we’re going to win the game, not hope we’re going to win the game.”

Sophomore Tyler Muzzy of Greenville helped set the tone for the Eagles. The rugged 6-foot-4 swingman attacked the basket hard on his way to 18 points and seven rebounds.

Muzzy scored six points (a 3-pointer and a three-point play) during Husson’s game-opening 13-2 run. After the initial surge, the Eagles never led by fewer than six points.

“We’re ready to go on a tear this semester,” Muzzy said. “Our confidence is back and I think we’re going to be playing really well.”

Phil White went 7-for-8 from the field on his way to 15 points and also grabbed nine rebounds and made three steals. Jeff White of Corinna netted 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Mike Francoeur and Jason Levecque tossed in 13 points each to lead Southern Maine. Francouer scored the 1,000th point of his career on a driving layup with 3:46 to play.

Husson, which led 40-31 at intermission, rattled off a 10-1 run early in the second half while pushing the advantage to 18.

Sheraud Lee scored on an offensive rebound and White converted a layup of a cut through the paint. Jesse McKinnell made a free throw for USM, but White banked in a 12-footer, Muzzy drove the baseline for a basket and White put in a rebound to make it 50-32 with 15:30 remaining.

“It’s tough to get in a rhythm,” Caruso said. “We looked at this weekend as kind of a springboard to maybe what we’ll do the second semester. Now our job is to finish it off [Monday] night.”

The Eagles welcomed back sophomore guard Jason Harvey of Bucksport, who has transferred back from the University of Maine, where he played baseball last year. Husson was minus freshman guard Andy Frost of Brewer, who is serving a 31/2-game suspension for violating team rules.

The Huskies were without standout Ryan Garland of Hermon, who was nursing a sore ankle but will play today.

In the first game, Colby played cohesive man-to-man defense and executed crisply on the offensive end in the first half while building an early lead that held up.

Coach Dick Whitmore’s White Mules appeared sharp despite having a scheduled trip to Arizona canceled Dec. 26 because of bad weather.

Colby was to have played two games in the Grand Canyon Classic, but had their plans spoiled by canceled plane flights.

“[It was a] huge disappointment,” Whitmore said. “That’s an extra credit to these guys.”

Instead, the Mules put in lots of extra practice time and the results were evident Sunday.

Colby ran its offense well and shot 55 percent from field, including 11 of 26 from 3-point range. The Mules committed only eight turnovers and outrebounded the Monks 36-31.

Senior guard Pat McGowen and senior forward Mike Rutherford spearheaded the effort. McGowen hit six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 28 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Rutherford went 10-for-14 from the floor on his way to 22 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

“We’re an emerging team, but we’re getting a lot of good team play,” said Whitmore, who is in his 34th season at Colby. “We’re blessed with five seniors and because we have five seniors I think that gives our guys a little more overall maturity. I think that showed in a lot of different places in that game.”

Chad Pulkkinen paced a determined Saint Joseph’s squad with 24 points, while Jon Pratt scored 21. Steve Monteiro provided 11 points and eight rebounds and Noah LaRoche chipped in with 11 points.

The Mules put together a decisive 15-2 first-half scoring run that gave them the lead for good. McGowen opened the surge with a 3-pointer, then Rutherford hit a 17-footer and a 3-pointer back-to-back.

Monteiro answered for the Monks with a bucket off a low-post move, but Nick Farrell drilled a 3-pointer, Nate Dick hit a short runner and McGowen made a layup off an Andrew Jenkins steal to give Colby a 20-11 lead.

The Mules led by as many as 21 in the second half.

WHITE MULES 100, MONKS 83

Colby (8-1) Saint Joseph’s (5-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Snyder-Fair 0 1 0 0 0 LaRoche 3 6 11

McGowan 11 18 0 0 28 Pulkkinen 8 12 3 4 24

Farrell 3 9 6 9 14 Alexander 2 6

Westbrook 0 4 4 4 4 Mileski 1 2 2

Rutherford 10 14 1 2 22 Monteiro 3 11

Cohne 3 3 4 5 10 Schacht 2 6 5

Nale 1 2 0 1 2 Pratt 6 11 7 11 21

Cushman 3 5 1 2 8 Plummer 1 2 2

Jenkins 3 5 1 2 8 Castor 0 0 0

Gaudet 0 0 0 0 0 Emmons 0 3 1

Dick 1 3 0 0 2

Featherston 0 0 0 0 0

Civeillo 1 1 0 0 2

Brandi 0 0 0 0 0

Cheney 0 0 0 2 0

Totals 36 65 17 27 100 26 59 22 35 83

Colby 44 100

Saint Joseph’s 31 83

3-pt. goals – Colby (11-26): McGowen 6-10, Farrell 2-6, Cushman 1-2, Jenkins 1-2, Rutherford 1-3, Westbrook 0-2, Dick 0-1; Saint Joseph’s (9-19): Pulkkinen 5-9, Pratt 2-4, LaRoche 1-1, Schacht 1-2, Monteiro 0-2, Alexander 0-1

EAGLES 74, HUSKIES 58

Southern Maine (3-5) Husson (3-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Francoeur 5 16 2 2 13 Lee 2 6 6

Levecque 3 7 7 11 13 Muzzy 7 17 18

Daniels 1 7 0 0 2 J. White 5 11

McKinnell 2 9 2 3 6 P. White 7 15

Sayward 3 6 2 2 8 Leavitt 2 9 8

Randall 0 0 2 2 2 Little 0 0 0

Oakley 1 6 1 2 4 Paterson 0 0

Donar 0 2 0 0 0 Beauregard 1 2

Hebert 2 3 0 0 4 Grant 0 5 0

Casterella 0 0 0 0 0 Harvey 3 7 8

Favis 0 2 2 2 2 Footer 1 4 2

Hardwick 0 1 0 0 0 Philbrick 0 0

Russell 2 2 0 0 4 Henry 1 1 4

Totals 19 61 18 24 58 29 69 10 21 74

Southern Maine 31 58

Husson 40 74

3-pt. goals – Southern Maine (2-19): Oakley 1-4, Francoeur 1-6, Daniels 0-3, Donar 0-2, Levecque 0-1, Sayward 0-1, Favis 0-1, Hardwick 0-1; Husson (6-17): Harvey 2-4, Leavitt 2-5, Lee 1-2, Muzzy 1-4, Beauregard 0-2