Simpson closes season in quarterfinals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Simpson College men's basketball team was aiming for its third-straight opening round victory in the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Tuesday, but fell short in a 94-88 contest at Coe.

The Storm (3-7) proved resilient once again by coming back from a double-digit deficit for the second-straight contest. The Kohawks (6-4) went out in front 30-18 halfway through the first half.

A 15-4 run that was led by Deontei Johnson's six points brought the game to a tie at 41-41 with three minutes left until halftime. Simpson shot 6-for-7 during the run with two triples. The half ended with another run by the Storm to garner a 50-47 advantage at the break. Chris Honz and Johnson both had 10 points, and Bryce Yoder had nine off the bench to help the squad collect the lead.

Coe grabbed a seven-point lead 6:30 into the second stanza before Simpson tied the game at 62-62 at the halfway mark. After a back-and-forth battle through the next two minutes of action, Kade Tatkenhorst drained a triple to put Simpson ahead 82-80, but that would be the last lead the squad saw.

The Kohawks went on an 8-0 scoring spree to place the game at 88-82 before Andrew Curran stopped the scoreless drought with a triple. Collin Lister brought the game to within two at 90-88 with a 3-pointer of his own, but Coe drained four free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.

Lister ended his sophomore slate with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Honz (17), Curran (16) and Johnson (10) reached double figures as well. Both offenses shot nearly identical as Simpson connected on 56.9% of its attempts and Coe tallied a 58.6% shooting clip. The Storm made 14 3-pointers in the contest for a season high.

Simpson has now reached the A-R-C Tournament in six-straight seasons under head coach Brad Bjorkgren.