Filbert, Stumbo score season-highs in win

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Simpson men's basketball team saw itself down by one midway through the second half and went on a 21-5 run to capture a 90-81 victory against Luther on Monday night.

The long ball was a crucial factor during that large stretch for the Storm (13-8, 7-6 A-R-C). Three different players combined to make a trey in that span, Conor Riordan had two with Taylor Filbert and Tyler Stumbo each draining one.

The Norse (7-13, 1-11 A-R-C) ended the run with a triple of their own. The visitors got the game to within eight and took a timeout, but Simpson tallied six-straight points out of the break to keep the pressure on.

On defense, the Storm forced 11 turnovers and had 19 points off those miscues. John Barbee was the force behind that advantage and had four steals to be tied for third in the conference with 41 swipes. Barbee now has three games with four-or-more steals.

In the first half, Simpson had three players tally double-figure points, while the visitors had none. Kyle Wagner poured in 12 points, and Conor Riordan and Taylor Filbert both had 11 to help the team shot 50 percent from the floor.

With the offense doing so well in the first half, the Storm stayed on track and made 53.1 percent of their shots in the second half to finish the game with a 51.5 percent mark.

Riordan finished with a game-high 23 points and dished out three assists. Stumbo and Filbert both obtained season-highs scoring 21 and 14 points, respectively. Ben Rajewski had his largest-scoring output in 11 games with 14 points.

Aaron Blumberg finished the night with 20 points and four rebounds for Luther. Ray Whitlock contributed with 13 points to help the team.

GAME NOTES

Both teams made 14 3-pointers during the game, with Simpson owning a slight two-percent advantage in its makes … Over the team's last five games, the Storm are averaging 12.4 made shots from behind the arc per game …

UP NEXT

Simpson travels to No. 1 Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday. In the previous matchup on Jan. 9, 2019, the Prairie Wolves won 96-84.