AUGUSTA -- The University of Maine at Augusta men's basketball team will always be a work in progress.

That's the nature of a school that doesn't have on-campus housing and caters to traditional and non-traditional students alike. The Moose lost the bulk of last season's lineup but there may be help on the way. Or maybe not.

Thursday night, the team didn't need any help in dispatching Unity College 80-35 at the Augusta Civic Center. Senior guard Deon Cheers, the team's only returning starter, and freshman Moses Brathwaite inflicted most of the damage.

Cheers, who went over 1,000 career points last season, scored 19 points, dished out eight assists and made seven steals. Brathwaite's numbers -- 27 points, 26 rebounds, seven steals -- were even better. The 6-foot-5 Brathwaite, who is 27 years old and on active duty in the Navy, is a prime example of the non-traditional UMA student.

"I was researching schools online and I was transferring to Maine," Brathwaite said. "This is the first one that contacted me after I made an application to play basketball."

Brathwaite said he's never played organized ball but always had a desire to play in college.

"I'm loving it," he said. "I'm expanding my game. It's always been a dream of mine to play college ball."

After Cheers and Brathwaite, the Moose are inexperienced. Phil Ellis (Lake Region), Payson Nichols (Bangor) and Andrew Gibson (South Portland) all came off the bench last season.

"Two of the better players in the league are surrounded by a group of young and inexperienced players," UMA coach Jim Ford said.

There are a number of central Maine players with varying degrees of experience on the UMA roster, including Tim Roy (Lawrence), Keith Barton (Mt. Blue), Marty Campbell (Erskine), Matt Thompson (Winthrop) and James Henderson and Josh Acedo (Hall-Dale).

"It's fun, it's a lot different from high school," Acedo said. "The game's a lot faster. You've got to think a lot quicker on your feet."

As one-sided as the final score indicates, neither team got off to a good start.

"We had stage fright or Civic Center-itis, whatever you want to call it," Ford said. "The outside shots weren't falling."

With Cheers leading the defense, the Moose played uptempo most of the game and didn't need too many outside shots. Brathwaite controlled the glass, getting most of his points off post-up moves or putbacks. He capped his big night with a thunderous dunk midway through the second half.

The Moose (1-2) will face tougher competition in their Yankee Small College Conference schedule than they did Thursday night. In addition to playing the state's technical colleges, they also face Hesser, New Hampshire Tech and Fisher, all solid programs. And they'll be tested in their own tournament this weekend at the Civic Center when they host University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Maine at Machias.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com