MBB Preview: Storm continue A-R-C slate at Loras

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Simpson men's basketball team hits the road for the third-straight weekend on Saturday for a battle at Loras. The American Rivers Conference showdown begins at 4 p.m.

The Storm (10-9, 4-6 A-R-C) grabbed an 88-57 triumph over Luther on Wednesday to get back in the win column. The Duhawks (13-6, 6-4 A-R-C) won 79-72 over Central to escape Pella with a victory.

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 20
Simpson (10-9, 4-6 A-R-C) at Loras (13-6, 6-4 A-R-C)
Saturday, Feb. 1 | 4 p.m.
Lillis Court | Dubuque, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

LISTEN TO THE STORM
The team of Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the call on 94.3 FM and 1320 AM or online at kniakrls.com. Fans can also download the KNIA app, available on iTunes and Google Play.

LORAS SERIES NOTES
Saturday will house the 101st meeting between the Storm and Duhawks as Simpson looks to inch closer to evening up the series record with Loras leading, 53-47 ... the Duhawks are cruising right now in the series with four-straight victories, two of those are by double-digit margins ... in the last meeting between the two teams, Loras owned a 52-39 lead at halftime and looked to run away with the triumph ... Simpson outscored the visitors, 39-30, in the second stanza to erase the halftime deficit, but couldn't finish off the comeback ... Conor Riordan ended with 20 points and Adam Reiter registered a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

RECENT RESULTS
Dec. 7, 2019 — L, 82-78 (Indianola)
Feb. 2, 2019 — L, 100-79 (Dubuque)
Jan. 2, 2019 — L, 85-61 (Indianola)
Feb. 14, 2018 — L, 87-86 (Dubuque)
Jan. 6, 2018 — W, 97-88 (Indianola)

ABOUT THE DUHAWKS
Loras and fourth-year head coach Chris Martin are winners of their last three of four games with two victories in a row ... the Duhawks started league play 3-0 before dropping the next three to sit at .500, and are 3-1 since ... Rowan McGowen is averaging 17.2 points per outing for fifth in the league on a 49.3% shooting clip ... JT Ford is second on the team by scoring 13.6 points to help the offense net 81.7 points a game for sixth in the conference.

LAST TIME OUT
The Storm opened up Wednesday's game on an 18-2 run as six different players scored during the spurt ... Luther stormed back on a 14-4 scoring spree to stay within striking distance, but Simpson pulled away once again ... in the second half, the Storm grabbed a 33-point lead for their largest of the game and ended with a 88-57 win over the Norse ... Riordan tallied 25 points and Kyle Wagner came one rebound shy of his first career double-double with 12 points and nine boards.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

12th — free throw percentage (77.4%)
16th — field goal percentage (49.4%)
29th — scoring offense (86.5)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Conor Riordan — ninth in assist to turnover ratio (3.07), 13th in free throw percentage (89.5%)
Adam Reiter — 13th in field goal percentage (63.1%), 26th in double-doubles (9)

• In the A-R-C, the Storm are second in shooting percentage (49.4%) and third in scoring (86.5), but are second to last in points allowed per contest at 81.9.
• Three starters are scoring in double figures as Conor Riordan is leading the way at 20.1 ppg. Adam Reiter is second at 15.9 and Kyle Wagner follows with an average of 13.9.
• Riordan has scored at least 24 points in the last five of six contests this season to average 24.0 points per game since Jan. 11.
• 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 10th in program history with 1,370 and needs 56 points to move into ninth.

UP NEXT
The Storm return to the court to face off against Central on Saturday, Feb. 8 for a 4 p.m. contest.