Honz scores career high in loss at Dubuque

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- Simpson College men's basketball looked poised to hand Dubuque its first blemish of the season on Saturday, but fell short in an 87-74 contest.

The Storm (1-5, 1-3 A-R-C) were aiming for back-to-back wins during the week and to stop a three-game losing skid to the Spartans (8-0, 4-0 A-R-C), but the hosts had other plans as they are now 4-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2013-14 slate. Dubuque's eight-game winning streak is the program's longest since 2014-15.

Simpson shot 48.3% from the floor for the team's highest percentage this season. Junior Chris Honz finished with his second double-double of the year with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Alec Hinson and junior Deontei Johnson both ended with 10 points as Johnson tallied his third straight game in double figures.

Through the first four minutes of action, Simpson held a 13-5 lead for its largest of the American Rivers Conference showdown. Johnson and Honz both scored four points as the team went 5-for-6 from the floor. The Spartans executed an 8-0 run to knot the game at 13-13 in under two minutes of game action.

A pair of free throws by freshman Lincoln Swanson provided the Storm with a slim lead once again of 15-13. Simpson went into a scoring drought over the next minute with Dubuque tallying nine straight points to make it a 22-15 contest. The Storm fought back on a 10-3 run with the aid of two triples to tie it at 25-25 with 10 minutes to play in the first.

Both teams kept the game within four points over the next four minutes before the Spartans were able to stretch it to a 10-point advantage at the break with a 51-41 lead. Simpson shot 50.0% overall in the half, but made only 25.0% of its attempts from long range.

It took 10 minutes into the second half for the Storm to chip away at the deficit to make it a four-point contest at 68-64 in favor of Dubuque. The Spartans offense ignited on a 13-4 spurt to widen the gap and kept the game out of reach the rest of the way for Simpson. The Storm's defense held Dubuque to a 30.3% shooting clip in the second.

Dubuque's Patrick Mayfield tallied 21 points and Peter Ragen chipped in 16 to help the offense shoot 42.2% overall.

Up Next
The Storm have one day off before they host Luther (0-1, 0-1 A-R-C) on Monday in a 5:30 p.m. contest.