HANCOCK — A bigger Lakeland University men’s basketball team hammered Finlandia University on the boards Tuesday night and emerged with a 90-74 win.

“We played hard but not always smart,” said first-year Lions coach Sam Casey. “But they did outmuscle us under the basket.”

An eventual 45-34 rebounding margin made the difference for the Muskies.

And that wore down the Lions as the game went on, even though the Blue and White held a 40-37 lead at intermission.

A closing 10-2 run in the final 2:10 of the opening half was sparked by junior guard Dylan Underwood.

Underwood scored six points in that time.

“I thought we had something going at that point,” Casey said. “The crowd was behind us, our vibes were good … our conditioning was paying off.”

The Muskies came out strong to begin the second half.

Behind the play of guard Carlos Campon and 6-foot-8 center Sam Kaminski, the Wisconsin team surged to a 55-46 lead just four minutes into the second portion.

Campon led the 1-2 winners with 23 points, while Kaminski produced 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Underwood paced the 0-3 Lions with 23 points and also had five steals, three assists and 9 rebounds.

“Dylan Underwood played a fine game,” Casey said. “He was all over the court.”

Riley Hendrickson added 11 for FU, while Joe Heinonen (Superior Central) was good for 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Finlandia will travel to Lawrence University larter this week.

Lakeland 37 53 –90

Finlandia 40 34 — 74