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Late charge sinks Lions in loss to Blue Devils, 69-56

For the Gazette/Paul Peterson Finlandia’s Jaden Janke tries to get inside against UW-Stout in Friday's game at Paavo Nurmi Gym. The Lions ended up dropping a 69-56 decision.

HANCOCK — With just over four minutes left to play Friday evening, the Finlandia Lions men’s basketball team was locked in a tie with visiting Wisconsin-Stout.

But any hopes the Lions had to snag their first win of the season disappeared in the remaining time as the Wisconsin team went on a 16-3 run in an eventual 69-56 verdict at the Paavo Nurmi Center.

“Yeah, we were right there with a chance to win,” Lions coach Mike O’Donnell said. “But their pressure finally got to us. I guess we’re not used to seeing full-court pressure for a whole game.”

Whatever the case, the taller Blue Devils turned to veteran guard John Keefe at crunch time.

Keefe, a sixth-year senior, made all the big plays to break open what was a 53-53 deadlock with 4:13 left.

“He (Keefe) has been here for awhile,” UW-Stout coach Jim Lake said. “When the game gets close, he usually knows what to do.”

What Keefe did in the final minutes was knock down a three-pointer from the corner, hit two driving layups and convert three free throws. That ensured his team would move to 5-4 this season.

“That’s the nice thing about having a senior like him (Keefe),” O’Donnell said. “He has the experience to know when to take over.”

Neither side could find the basket in the beginning of the game as Stout was leading by a slim 11-8 margin midway through the opening 29 minutes.

But the Blue Devils mounted a 31-15 lead with just 1:16 left in the half.

That was when Finlandia, sparked by eight quick points from freshman Janden Janke (Dollar Bay), ignited an 11-1 outburst that made it 32-26 at intermission.

“They (Lions) got hot right near the end of the half and turned things around,” Lake said. “They outworked us right there.”

The game remained nip-and-tuck right until the final four minutes. Keefe and 6-foot-6 John Ciriacks doing the job for the winners, while Janke and Dylan Underwood stood out for Finlandia.

Janke paced the Finlandia attack with 18 points. Underwood had a nice all-around game with 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

Jeff Straih and Austin Carslon split 16 more points for the Lions. Carlson also had a game-leading 10 rebounds.

Keefe’s 27 points topped all scorers, while Ciriacks and Luke Geiger tossed in 11 markers apiece.

O’Donnell whose 0-8 team travels to Buena Vista, Iowa, next week, liked some of the things he saw in the game.

“We’re learning but we have to learn  to take better care of the basketball, and work on the little things,” he said.

UW-Stout stays in town to play Michigan Tech this afternoon.

UW-STOUT — Keefe 27, Koski 2, Ciriacks 11, Geiger 11, Dahl 5, Parks 2, Merickle 2, Williams 3. FG: NA: FT: 22-30; Rebounds: 47 (Ciriacks 9) 3-polnt FG: Keefe 3, Kiriacks 1.

FINLANDIA — Browner 3, Underwood 16, Carlson 8, Straih 8, Janke 18, Heinonen 2, Oom 4, M. Bain 2. FG: NA; FT: 9-14; Rebounds: 42 (Carlson 10); 3-point FG: Underwood 1, Janke 1.

Halftime score: UWS 32, FU 26.

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