Simpson men topple rival Central

INDIANOLA - Zack Barragan scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half as Simpson snapped a six-game losing streak against Central with an 82-72 win Wednesday night.

Winless against its oldest rival since 2007, the Storm (6-8, 3-2 IIAC) answered a late Central charge with an 8-1 run with under five minutes remaining.

Trailing most of the second half, a layup by Demarco Turner brought the Dutch (6-7, 2-3 IIAC) within three at the 4:44 mark. But John Cord produced two perfect trips to the line, Barragan nailed a trey and Stefon Brown's jumper with 3:07 left extended the lead to 10.

Central didn't get closer than eight rest of the way as Simpson knocked down 6 of 8 free throws in the final minutes.

Barragan made five 3-pointers against the Dutch, including four consecutive in the second half. He went 5-for-8 on the night, helping Simpson equal last year's win total only 14 games into the campaign.

Stefon Brown added 16 points and six rebounds, including four offensive boards. John Cord chipped in with 12 points and Cornelius Mosby had six rebounds and four blocks in only his second game of the season.

Coming into the game shooting an Iowa Conference-low 65.8 percent from the free throw line, Simpson shot 85.7 percent (24-for-28) Wednesday night.

Demarco Turner led all scorers with 25 points for Central.

Simpson faces a tall task Saturday, traveling to Decorah for a matchup with league-frontrunner, Luther (8-5, 5-0 IIAC). Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.