Storm lose overtime heartbreaker

LINCOLN, Neb. – Drew Bentley forced overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer but Jonah Bradley won it with a go-ahead 3 with .04 seconds left as Nebraska Wesleyan beat the Simpson men's basketball team 78-77 at Nebraska Wesleyan's Snyder Classic on Friday.

After Elijah Knox hit 1 of 2 free throws in the closing seconds of overtime to give Simpson a 77-75 lead, Bradley took the ball the length of the floor and hit a pull-up 3 with less than a second left for the dramatic win.

Eric Jackson scored a game-high 21 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Prairie Wolves (3-1). Tim Schweitzer added 19 and 12 rebounds and Bradley finished with five.

Austin Hennings led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Storm (1-3), who dropped their third straight after winning their season-opener. Knox scored 16 and had four rebounds, Charles Swain added 12 points and Bentley chipped in with 11 and eight rebounds.

Simpson lost despite shooting nearly 55 percent from the field compared to Nebraska Wesleyan's 46. But the Storm committed 20 turnovers which the Prairie Wolves turned into 27 points.

The Storm led 62-57 with less than 3 minutes left before Jackson hit back-to-back 3s and Schweitzer hit a pair of free throws to give Nebraska Wesleyan a 65-62 lead. Jackson had a chance to put the game away, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, prompting a Simpson timeout with 2.4 seconds left.

Knox inbounded to  Bentley, who stepped back and fired a desperation heave at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

Simpson takes on Washington (Mo.) at 5:30 on Saturday, Nov. 24.