Late rally falls short at Central for Simpson men

PELLA, Iowa -- The Simpson men's basketball team lost 78-71 at Central on Saturday to snap a two-game winning streak against the Dutch.

The Storm (10-11, 4-8 A-R-C) made three triples in their first four possessions to jump out to 11-3, but Central (5-17, 2-11 A-R-C) rebounded over the next three minutes to take a 14-13 tilt. Both teams traded blows until the game sat at 21-21, before Kyle Wagner and Conor Riordan drained back-to-back 3-pointers to push it to 27-23.

The Dutch came back to tie the contest at 27-27 and neither team could find an edge as the game moved to 36-36. Central tallied a last-second layup to take a 38-37 lead into the half. Collin Lister went 4-for-7 from the floor to net 11 points.

Adam Reiter notched a basket in the first 30 seconds of the half to give Simpson its first lead of the second frame at 39-38. Central went on a 6-0 spurt to grab some breathing room. Over the course of the next several minutes, the hosts went on a 10-0 run to capture its largest lead of the game of 13 at 60-47.

Riordan connected on another triple to jump-start a 15-1 run to grab a 69-68 advantage with 3:50 to go. The Dutch halted the spree with a 3-pointer of their own to regain the lead. Riordan made a basket to bring the deficit to two at 73-71 with 30 seconds to go, but Central held on to win by sinking its free throws down the stretch.

The offense had four players score in double figures as Riordan led with 21 points. The senior also grabbed seven boards and dished out six assists. Lister, Reiter and Wagner all tallied 11 points each.

Up Next
Simpson aims for its fourth win in a row at home this Wednesday as Coe visits for a 7:30 p.m. contest.