Big games from Anderson, Gretzky not enough against BVU

STORM LAKE, Iowa – Cole Darrow scored a game-high 26 points and came within one rebound of a double-double as Buena Vista beat the Simpson men's basketball team 99-71 in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

Nick Wuebker had 15 points and nine rebounds and Brett Heitkamp had 14 and eight as the Beavers (13-12, 8-6 Iowa Conference) earned the No. 4 seed in next week's Iowa Conference Tournament.

Tyler Anderson scored a season-high 21 points and Dillon Gretzky added 18 for the Storm (4-21, 2-12), who did not qualify for the conference tournament.

Simpson hung around in the first half, thanks in large part to the play of Anderson and Gretzky. Anderson scored 15 in the first and went 8-for-9 from the free throw line while Gretzky scored 12 on 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Simpson only trailed by eight at halftime, 47-39.

The second half started out well as a Leif Olson layup cut the lead to six on the first possession. Darrow and Alex Savage made jumpers on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 10, but Simpson responded with layups by Anderson and Charles Swain to make 51-45 with 17:55 left.

Buena Vista extended its lead from there. A 3 by Tyler Kastantin trigged a 12-5 run over the next four minutes, opening up a 63-50 lead. Simpson couldn't get any closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Two seniors suited up for the final time on Saturday: guard Ryan Olson and forward Eric Lande.