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 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 hit four 3-pointers en route to a 19-point performance. Junior forward Derek Rongstad tallied 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, and junior guard David Sachs 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.