Hot shooting leads Wartburg past Simpson

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Eddie Diemer scored 16 points, Drew Crawford had 14 and Wartburg beat the Simpson men's basketball team 69-54 on Saturday.

Crawford went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and Diemer went 6-for-7 from the field to highlight a great shooting day for the Knights (8-5, 3-0 Iowa Conference), who won their third in a row. As a team, Wartburg shot better than 55 percent from the field including 62.5 percent in the first half.

Charles Swain had 14 points and Austin Hennings had 11 and nine rebounds for the Storm (4-10, 0-3), who lost their fifth straight.

Wartburg seized control early with a 24-2 run over a 7-minute stretch in the first half. A dunk by Hennings cut Wartburg's lead to 8-7 and brought the home crowd to its feet, but Thomas Perkins canned a 3 and Brandon Flenor sliced through the Simpson defense on back-to-back possessions.

A Drew Crawford 3 capped the run, giving the Knights a commanding 32-9 lead. AJ Arrington provided Simpson with its only points during the run, which spanned nearly seven minutes.

Simpson hosts Loras next Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. The Duhawks (5-9, 0-3) lost to Coe 67-65 in overtime on Saturday.