Posted: Feb 18, 2019

MBB Preview: Storm host Coe in A-R-C Tournament

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The fourth-seeded Simpson Storm men's basketball team hosts the fifth-seeded Coe Kohawks in the first round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Cowles Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

The teams will play for the second time in four days. The Storm (15-9, 9-7) beat the Kohawks (14-11, 8-8) 72-70 on Adam Reiter's tip-in at the buzzer on Saturday to earn the fourth seed. Simpson closed the regular season by winning 6 of 8 while Coe dropped its last three games.

The winner of Tuesday's game advances to the semifinal round to play top-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan on Thursday in Lincoln.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com, where Bryan Geelan will have the call. Fans can also access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

GAME 25
#5 Coe (14-11, 8-8) at #4 Simpson (15-9, 9-7)
Tuesday, Feb. 19 | 8 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

AMERICAN RIVERS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
First Round — Tuesday, Feb. 19
No. 6 Dubuque at No. 3 Wartburg — 7 p.m.
No. 5 Coe at No. 4 Simpson — 8 p.m.

Semifinals — Thursday, Feb. 21
Coe/Simpson winner at No. 1 Nebraska Wesleyan
Dubuque/Wartburg winner at No. 2 Loras

Finals — Saturday, Feb. 23
Semifinal winners at Highest Remaining Seed

SIMPSON IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The Storm are making their 16th appearance in the conference tournament, which first took place in 1999 … Simpson is 7-14 all-time in the tournament … since Brad Bjorkgren took over as head coach, the Storm have hosted four-straight tournament games for the first time in school history … the Storm have lost four straight in the postseason and are looking for their first win since 2012 … the Storm are 1-1 against Coe in the postseason, losing in the 2006 semifinals 79-76 in overtime and winning in the 1999 semifinals 84-54.

COE SERIES NOTES
Simpson and Coe meet for the 92nd time in a series that dates back to the 1911-12 season … the Kohawks own a 49-42 lead in the series, but Simpson has won 4 of 5 … the teams split the regular season series, with the Storm winning 72-70 on Saturday in Cedar Rapids and the Kohawks winning 84-78 on Jan. 19 in Indianola.

RECENT RESULTS
Feb. 16, 2019 — W, 72-70 (Cedar Rapids)
Jan. 19, 2019 — L, 84-78 (Indianola)
Feb. 17, 2018 — W, 75-72 (Indianola)
Jan. 10, 2018 — W, 79-69 (Cedar Rapids)
Jan. 21, 2017 — W, 67-62 (Cedar Rapids)

ABOUT THE KOHAWKS
Coe and seventh-year head coach Bryan Martin—a 1999 Simpson graduate—lost three in a row to close the regular season but earned the No. 5 seed in the A-R-C Tournament with an 8-8 record … the Kohawks are led by 6-6 forward Nolan Timp, who averages 17.7 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting a league-best 63.5 percent from the field … he had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the last meeting … Coe is ninth in the league in scoring (75.7) and second in points allowed (72.9).

LAST TIME OUT
Adam Reiter put-back Conor Riordan's miss as time expired and the Storm held on to beat Coe 72-70 in the regular season finale on Saturday in Cedar Rapids. Kyle Wagner scored 24 points and made six 3-pointers and Reiter finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for the Storm, who withstood a 24-0 second-half run by the Kohawks. Simpson used a 19-0 run early in the half to build a 61-37 lead with 11:20 left.

STORM NOTES

The Storm made seven 3s in the win over Central on Feb. 13, giving the team 233 on the season to break the previous school record of 232 set in 2015-16. Simpson enters the postseason with 245 3-pointers.
Simpson is a perfect 8-0 this season when shooting 50 percent from the field.
Adam Reiter has enjoyed a breakout junior season. The 6-8 forward averages 13.3 points and 7.2 rebounds this season, up from 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds as a sophomore. He has four double-doubles on the season, ranks second in the league in rebounding (7.2) and leads the league with 54 offensive rebounds. He earned A-R-C co-Player of the Week honors on Dec. 9.
Junior forward Kyle Wagner has established himself as one of the top 3-point shooters in the country. Hitting 49.6 percent from beyond the arc, Wagner leads the A-R-C and ranks seventh in the nation. His 68 3s on the season are the fourth-most in school history, and he has a 3 in 25 of the last 26 games.
A bulk of Wagner's success has come in the second half of the season. Over the last 12 games, he's averaging almost 18 points and shooting 51 percent from the field. That's up from 10.7 ppg in the first 12.
Conor Riordan went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc in the Feb. 4 win over Luther, giving him 101 3s for his career, the eighth player in school history to reach the century mark. He now has 947 career points as he closes in on 1,000 for his career.
Defensive specialist John Barbee ranks fourth in the league with 44 steals.
The Storm are third in the conference in scoring (83.8 ppg) and sixth in points allowed (80.5).
Simpson exploded for a school-record 18 3-pointers in a 98-89 win at Buena Vista on Wednesday, Jan. 23, breaking the mark of 17 set against Dubuque on Feb 22, 2003. The Storm went 18-for-32 in the game, good for 56.3 percent, second-best in school history.
Head coach Brad Bjorkgren became just the fifth coach in school history to reach 50 career wins with the Storm's 94-69 win at Luther on Dec. 3. He is the second-fastest to reach the mark, needing just 85 games. Bjorkgren is 55-40 in four seasons with the Storm.