Janssen’s career day not enough against New England

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Jamal Allen scored 26 points to spoil Nick Janssen's career game as New England beat the Simpson men's basketball team 85-76 on Friday at the Cruzin Classic.

Janssen scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half but the Storm (8-3) couldn't overcome a late run by New England.

Izaiah Winston-Brook's jumper with 5:59 left gave the Pilgrims (8-2) a 67-66 lead. He hit a 3 to make it 74-69, sparking a 7-0 run that proved insurmountable. Allen made a pair of free throws and a layup during the spurt.

Allen went 7-for-11 from the field to spark New England's bench. Winston-Brook added 20 and Jason Jones had 13 and 15 rebounds.

Kyle Wagner scored 19 points, going 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. John Barbee added 14 and seven rebounds and Adam Reiter finished with seven points and nine boards.

A close game throughout, neither team led by more than eight points until the final minutes.

New England took the game's biggest lead on a Ricky Leonard layup with just under a minute to play in the first half. Wagner hit a 3 and Reiter made a layup to cut the lead to 42-39 at halftime. Simpson took the lead on Barbee's layup with 18:39 left and built a 53-47 lead on Janssen's jumper with 16:34 to play.

NOTES

Simpson failed to reach 80 points for the first time in six games … starting in place of Conor Riordan, Janssen scored a career-high for the second time in three games … his previous best was 13 on Dec. 8 against Faith Baptist … the Storm were outrebounded for the first time in four games.

UP NEXT

Simpson is off until facing the second-ranked team in Division II—Northwest Missouri State—in an exhibition game on Sunday, Dec. 30. Start time is set for 2 p.m. in Maryville, Mo.