Early lead slips for Storm men in loss at Luther

DECORAH, Iowa -- The Simpson men's basketball team was unable to maintain a six-point halftime lead to fall 83-73 at Luther on Sunday.

The Norse (6-10, 2-5 A-R-C) started the second half on a 9-0 spurt to take the lead at 43-40 and then ended the American Rivers Conference battle with another 9-0 run to pull away after the game was tied 68-68 with over three minutes to go.

After Luther's initial 9-0 scoring spree to start the second, the Storm (8-8, 2-5 A-R-C) fought back to retake the lead at 44-40. Simpson was able to push the tilt to five at 54-49 with the help of six points from Conor Riordan. The hosts fought back to tie the game at 54 over the next 65 seconds.

Both teams traded leads through the next 5:44 of play until the game was knotted at 68, the last time Simpson had the advantage in reach. The Norse made nine free throws down the stretch to seal the win to snap a two-game losing skid.

Simpson started the game on a 11-3 run as the duo of Adam Reiter and Riordan combined to score all 11 points. A basket by Andrew Curran lifted the Storm's lead to nine at 21-12 for their largest of the game. Luther made four-straight triples to slash the deficit to place the game at 26-24 in favor of Simpson.

Jared Bacon connected on his lone 3-pointer of the game with 13 seconds left in the first half to give Simpson the six-point margin at 40-34.

Riordan ended with a game-high 24 points and went 9-for-16 from the field. Reiter notched another double-double after putting up 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Wagner added nine points and Bacon scored seven off the bench.

The Storm held a 45.3% shooting clip and won the rebound battle, 40-36.

Notes
• Riordan has now scored 20-or-more points in three-straight outings since scoring just seven points at Nebraska Wesleyan.
• Reiter now has eight double-doubles this season and is now first in the league in rebounding at 9.7 boards per game.
• Simpson shot 22.2% from 3 for its lowest since shooting 21.1% against Buena Vista on Dec. 5, 2018.

Up Next
The Storm look to get back in the win column on Wednesday when Wartburg visits for a 7:30 p.m. A-R-C showdown.