Amsbaugh reaches milestone in loss to Central

PELLA, Iowa — Kyle Smith scored 24 points, Malik Wildermuth had 23 and Central took advantage of an off night from the free throw line to beat the Simpson men's basketball team 93-87 on Wednesday night.

Smith finished with nine rebounds and Wildermuth made five 3-pointers as the Dutch (7-10, 4-4 Iowa Conference) put an end to Simpson's winning streak at six games. Seth Wood also made five 3s for Central, which made 14 as a team.

Conor Riordan had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Sam Amsbaugh went for 15 and 10 to join an exclusive club for the Storm (9-7, 5-3). John Barbee scored 17 points off the bench but Simpson went just 18-for-31 from the free throw line, the team's worst effort at the charity stripe since going 5-for-12 in a 36-point loss at Wis.-Platteville on Nov. 21.

Amsbaugh's second rebound of the night made him just the eighth player in school history to score 1,000 points and pull down 500 rebounds. He currently ranks 10th all-time with 1,328 points and 12th with 508 rebounds.

Despite the sub-par free throw shooting, Simpson made it a game after trailing by 12 in the second half.

Reserves Barbee and Aaron Hauser combined for 10 straight points and fellow bench-mate Kyle Wagner drilled a 3 to complete a 13-0 run and give Simpson a 70-69 lead with 11:17 to play in the second half.

But the lead the was short-lived.

Central answered with a 7-0 run of its own sparked by a Luke Posivio layup. Simpson pulled within three points three more times, but the Dutch answered each call. Wagner's 3 with 51 seconds left pulled Simpson within 87-84 but Jamel McKnight made a layup at the other end and Central was able to close it out at the free throw line.

Key Players
Conor Riordan — 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
John Barbee — 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Sam Amsbaugh — 15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks
Kyle Wagner — 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Ben Rajewski — 9 points, 3 3-pointers

Up Next
Saturday, Jan. 20 at Buena Vista