Posted: Feb 01, 2014
Luther too hot to handle in Simpson loss
Simpson
(3-16, 1-7)
61
Luther
(12-7, 4-4)
79
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Simpson (3-16, 1-7) | 28 | 33 | 61 |
|
Luther (12-7, 4-4) | 36 | 43 | 79 |
DECORAH, Iowa – Red-hot Luther overwhelmed Leif Olson and the Simpson men's basketball team as the Storm fell 79-61 on Saturday.
Olson scored a career-high 13 points and Charles Swain added 16 but it wasn't enough to stop a Luther team that has won each of its last four contests, including six of its last seven at home.
In the losing effort, senior reserve Eric Lande did his part in another hard fought performance off the bench. He scored seven points and brought down five rebounds in 16 minutes of duty.
The Norse (12-7, 4-4 Iowa Conference) got out to a quick start and never looked back, earning a lead they would fail to relinquish at the 14:03 mark in the first half.
The Storm (3-16, 1-7) made it interesting after trailing by just eight points at halftime but the Norse went on a quick 8-0 run with 17:14 remaining to go up 50-34 and take the wind out of the Simpson sails en route to the victory.
Despite holding the Iowa Conference's leader in 3-point field goals made (8.7 per game) during conference play to merely five 3-pointers made, Luther outdid the Storm at the free throw line in a foul-plagued game that saw a combined 59 free throws attempted.
Luther's most versatile player, John Androus, led the charge with 19 points (7-8 free throws) while Aaron Huber collected 15 points (9-9 ft's). Both players grabbed five rebounds as well.
It's now or never for the Storm conference tourney hopes as they host Central in a rivalry game on Wednesday night. Simpson fell to the Dutch at Pella on Jan. 22 in a wire-to-wire game, 84-83, in overtime. Central hasn't lost since then and is currently on a four game win streak.