Turner, Storm hold off Wartburg 86-80

WAVERLY, Iowa — Austin Turner scored 14 points, going 10-for-10 from the free throw line, and the Simpson men's basketball team survived a dry spell in the second half to beat Wartburg 86-80 on Saturday at Levick Arena.

Sabonis Smith scored 13 points and Turner made four free throws in the final 23 seconds for the Storm (13-7, 6-5 Iowa Conference), who nearly lost a 13-point lead before holding on to win for the fourth time in five games.

The Storm endured a scoring drought that lasted more than 5 minutes as Wartburg mounted an 11-0 run, pulling within 75-74 on Nate Woeste's jumper with 5:17 to play. Wartburg came up empty on its next four possessions, though, and a layup by Nick Noah ended Simpson's scoring drought with a layup at the 3:39 mark.

The Knights (13-7, 5-6) pulled within a point three more times, but the Storm had an answer each time. Turner remained steady at the free throw line and Nick Webber missed a layup with 15 seconds left, sealing the Storm's season-sweep of Wartburg.

Noah finished with 12 points while Ryan Skaar, Sam Amsbaugh and Ben Rajewski each added 11 for the Storm. DJ Dafney pulled down 10 rebounds.

Playing without leading scorer Jordan Cannon, Wartburg got a game-high 27 points from Jaran Sabus.

Turner tied a school record for free throw percentage, becoming the eighth player in school history to go perfect from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts. 

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Simpson hosts league-leading Buena Vista on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Cowles Fieldhouse. The Beavers (12-7, 8-2) saw a six-game winning streak come to a close with an 85-72 loss to Dubuque on Saturday.