Turner continues hot streak, leads Storm past Central

PELLA, Iowa — Austin Turner had another big game, posting his first career double-double, and the Simpson men's basketball team moved one step closer to securing a home game in the Iowa Conference Tournament with an 82-71 win over Central on Saturday. 

Turner had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Sam Amsbaugh had 18 points for the Storm (15-9, 8-7 Iowa Conference), who sit alone in fourth place in the league standings after sweeping the season series from Central. 

Simpson trailed 39-33 at halftime and fell behind by seven after Austin Glawe's 3-pointer early in the second half. The Storm responded with a 21-5 run, getting some help from the 3-ball in the process. 

Jamie Montgomery made two treys while Ryan Skaar and Ben Rajewski each hit one during the spurt, which put Simpson ahead for good. Rajewski hit the go-ahead 3 to make it 50-47 with 14:33 left and the Storm never looked back.

Colby Taylor had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Dutch (12-11, 6-8). 

Sabonis Smith had a big game with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists and DJ Dafney finished with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Montgomery had 11 points off the bench, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

The Storm shot nearly 80 percent from the free throw line, going 23-for-29. Turner went 11-for-14.

Simpson owns a half-game lead on Dubuque for fourth place in the league standings. The Spartans have two league games remaining while the Storm have just one, hosting Luther on Wednesday. The Norse (4-17, 2-12) lost to Loras 86-72 on Saturday.