LEWISTON — Tough to say what mounted more quickly for the University of Southern Maine men’s basketball team last season: The losses, or the injuries.

What the Huskies do know is that the two were indelibly linked. Torn knee ligaments, broken arms and twisted ankles too often equal two-win seasons.

“I think these kids are hungry,” said USM coach Karl Henrikson. “A lot of them feel like they got cheated.”

Southern Maine’s making-up-for-last-time tour has begun with a four-game winning streak, one that rolled on Tuesday nigght with a 76-72 victory over Bates College at Alumni Gym.

Corteze Izaac led the Huskies with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Sean Bergeron added 16 points and four thefts and led the bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort against Bates senior Brian Ellis.

Ellis, who became Bates’ 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer last weekend, erupted for 33 points on 12-for-16 shooting.

“It wasn’t quite enough, I guess,” he said. “We just couldn’t get into a flow offensively.”

Bergeron stepped in front of Ellis and drew an offensive foul, Ellis’ fourth, with 5:21 remaining in the game. USM led 60-58.

At that stage, only three other Bobcats had scored in the half, each a single hoop.

Bates (2-1) tried to go without Ellis as long as it could. But Isaac’s 3-pointer with 3:45 left inflated the Huskies’ lead to six and hastened Ellis’ return.

Mark Brust hit a jumper from the left baseline. Brust then made a steal and located Nick Schmiemann for a 3-pointer to bring Bates within a point, 64-63, at the 2:50 mark.

Bergeron found Chris Pagentine on a backdoor cut to provide USM’s response.

Mike Poulin’s steal led to another Pagentine basket with two minutes left, making it a five-point edge and fueling a free-throw shooting contest.

Ellis fouled out with 27 seconds left.

USM missed 5-of-9 down the stretch. But Bates couldn’t claw closer than three points.

Schiemann nailed all three free throws after Bergeron fouled him behind the arc with nine seconds left. Pagentine iced it for USM by hitting the first of two from the line.

“You win, and you start to believe,” Henrikson said. “You gain momentum. I think we’ve really improved our defense. We knew we’d have quickness and athleticism, and when we can dictate the flow of the game with our defense, that’s big.”

Bates committed 23 turnovers compared to USM’s 10.

Smith scored 11 of his 13 points and Pagentine 10 of his 12 in the second half.

“We tried to play them straight up, and I thought we did a pretty good job at times,” Ellis said. “But they must have had 20 second-chance points.”

There were five ties and six lead changes in the first half before USM scored eight unanswered points to grab a 34-27 lead.

Luke Matarazzo’s spinning drive at the buzzer kept Bates within four, 37-33.

Southern Maine quickly pushed the lead grew to double digits on Smith’s tip-in and Alex Kee’s hoop off a Bergeron steal early in the second half.

Back stormed Bates with a 14-4 rally to tie it at 54. Ellis scored seven in the run, then capped it with a dive for a loose ball off a USM miss that led to a John Squires dunk.

Another deuce by Ellis knotted it at 58 before Smith put the Huskies ahead to stay with 5:33 left.

“We knew he’d get his points. He’s a great player,” Henrikson said of Ellis. “We couldn’t let other people get into a flow.”

Schmiemann finished with 14 points for Bates.

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