Huskies men’s hoops defeats Finlandia

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Jason Hawke tallied game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead Michigan Tech to an 88-49 victory over Finlandia in a preseason men’s basketball game at the SDC Gym tonight. The Huskies shot 46 percent and held the visiting Lions to 27 percent in the contest.

FU played a strong first 10 minutes and held an 18-17 advantage. Kyle Stankowski‘s layup with 8:19 to go in the first half started a 9-0 run that gave Tech the lead for good. The Lions were still within four (31-27) with two minutes to go in the half before Ben Stelzer and Hawke combined for eight points and a 39-27 halftime margin.

Tech’s defense was much more stingy in the second half, holding Finlandia to just eight points through the first 12 minutes after half. The Black and Gold built up a 33-point lead during that time. Stankowski added 12 points during the run to finish with 14. The margin was not fewer than 29 the rest of the way.

“Credit Finlandia for playing a hard-fought game,” said Tech coach Kevin Luke. “They came out and made shots early.

“I was a little disappointed in our aggressiveness, but I thought we got better after halftime.”

Tech held a 47-38 advantage in rebounds and force 22 FU turnovers with 16 steals.

Stelzer (15 points) joined Hawke and Stankowski in double figures. All 17 available Huskies played in the game. Phil Romback was the next-highest scorer with seven points to go with five rebounds.

Finlandia was led by Brandon Robinette’s 17 points.

Michigan Tech will officially open its season at Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET.

(Information Courtesy of MTU Athletics)