The No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team played its first game in more than two weeks Friday night, defeating Finlandia (Mich.) 90-60 in a non-conference affair on the first day of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.
 
The Warhawks (9-1 overall) advance to the tournament championship game to face the winner of the Blackburn (Ill.)/St. Norbert game Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
Junior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) posted a game-high 20 points and added four assists and three steals to lead UW-Whitewater, which shot 50.7 percent from the floor and forced 26 turnovers by the Lions (2-8).
 
Junior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) hit four 3-pointers en route to a 19-point performance. Junior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) tallied 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, and junior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) registered 10 points.
 
After the Lions scored the game's first basket, UW-Whitewater recorded 27 of the next 28 points over the next 10 minutes of the contest, taking a 24-point advantage at the 9:38 mark of the first half.
 
The Warhawks continued to build on their lead and grabbed their largest of the period at 50-18 with 1:52 remaining on a layup by Rongstad.
 
Finlandia whittled its deficit down to 17 by the midway point of the second half, but UW-Whitewater registered the next seven points to retain control of the affair.
 
The Warhawks scored 32 points off turnovers and out-scored the Lions 13-1 in second-chance points.