Men's basketball notches first win of Zanders era

ST. PAUL - Zack Barragan scored a career-high 18 points and Simpson coasted to an 83-59 win over North Central at the Northwestern Tip Off Tournament on Saturday.

First-year head coach Charles Zanders picked up his first win as the head coach at Simpson with the win.

Barragan went 6 of 9 from the field and hit three 3-pointers for the Storm (1-2), who shot 50 percent from the field. Barragan scored 15 points on Friday night against UW-River Falls, earning a spot on the all-tournament team.

Simpson got a solid performance out of Seth Hutcheson, who came off the bench to score 14 points and grab nine rebounds. JJ Vanderheiden scored 10 points, Taylor Nederhoff had nine and Elijah Knox scored eight points, handed out five assists and nabbed four steals.

Tied 12-12 with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, Simpson closed the period on a 30-16 run for a 42-28 lead at intermission. North Central never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Nathan Roeder scored 14 points to lead the Cardinals (0-2).

Simpson faces Grand View in Des Moines on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.