MBB Preview: Simpson plays at Dubuque in A-R-C showdown

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Dubuque will host Simpson men's basketball on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game as the Storm aim to climb the American Rivers Conference standings once again.

The Storm (9-8, 3-5 A-R-C) grabbed a 71-65 victory over Wartburg on Wednesday and fought back from a 43-31 halftime deficit to win. The Spartans (11-6, 4-4 A-R-C) won 75-69 at Luther to get back in the win column.

Fans can access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV or by visiting SimpsonAthletics.com to find the video link.

GAME 18
Simpson (9-8, 3-5 A-R-C) at Dubuque (11-6, 4-4 A-R-C)
Saturday, Jan. 25 | 4 p.m.
Stoltz Sports Center | Dubuque, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

DUBUQUE SERIES NOTES
Simpson and Dubuque meet for the 154th time in a series that dates back to 1919 ... in the previous matchup between the two teams, the Spartans left Indianola with a 77-68 victory over the Storm to move to 4-0 ... Simpson held a 28-16 lead in the opening half just under the eight-minute mark, but Dubuque made four triples in a row to overtake the Storm at 33-28 to cruise into halftime ahead, 40-35 ... Simpson came back in the second to knot the contest at 53-53 with 10 minutes to go and grabbed the lead at 55-53 … the teams went back and forth to tie it once again at 66-66, but the visitors ended the game on a 11-2 run to win.

RECENT RESULTS
Nov. 26, 2019 — L, 77-68 (Indianola)
Jan. 26, 2019 — W, 75-62 (Indianola)
Jan. 5, 2019 — W, 86-71 (Dubuque)
Jan. 24, 2018 — L, 80-76 (Indianola)
Dec. 6, 2017 — W, 87-83 (Dubuque)

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Dubuque is currently tied for fourth in the conference with Loras and has wins over Coe, Central, Luther and Simpson ... the offense is fifth in scoring at 83.5 points per outing and the defense is sixth by allowing 79.9 points per game ... Mitch Berger is sixth in the league in scoring at 16.4 and Peter Ragen is close by with 14.6 points ... Avery Butler and Ragen are both averaging over six rebounds per game to lead the team on the glass.

LAST TIME OUT
The Storm grabbed a much-needed victory on Wednesday to snap a two-game losing skid in conference play ... Simpson won 71-65 against Wartburg with help from Kyle Wagner pouring in 20 points on four makes from behind the arc ... Adam Reiter added his ninth double-double after scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 boards ... Conor Riordan scored 15 and dished out seven assists in the victory ... Ahmed Musa was a threat on defense by grabbing four steals to go along with his 10 points.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

5th — free throw percentage (78.5%)
26th — scoring offense (86.6)
27th — field goal percentage (49.0%)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Conor Riordan — eighth in assist to turnover ratio (3.17), 15th in free throw percentage (89.2%)
Adam Reiter — 14th in double-doubles (9), 22nd in field goal percentage (62.2%)

• In the A-R-C, the Storm are second in shooting percentage (49.0%), third in scoring (86.6), but are second to last in points allowed per contest at 82.8.
• Three starters are scoring in double figures as Conor Riordan is leading the way at 19.5 ppg. Reiter is second at 16.6 and Kyle Wagner follows with an average of 14.2.
• Conor Riordan became the 21st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark. He needed just 11 points to reach it when the season started and used his 22 points in the season opener against Bethany Lutheran to join the club. Riordan is currently 11th in program history with 1,320 career points and needs just 47 points to move into 10th place.

UP NEXT
Simpson hosts Luther on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game. The Norse fought back to win 83-73 on Jan. 19 after being down by six points at halftime in the previous game between the two teams.