Trio carries Storm to 86-59 win over Nebraska Wesleyan

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- In a much-needed win to stay alive in the American Rivers Conference Tournament hunt, the Simpson men's basketball team pulled off an 86-59 upset of No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday to snap the Prairie Wolves' 11-game winning streak.

The Storm (12-12, 6-9 A-R-C) carried the advantage for 39:28 of game time to hand Nebraska Wesleyan (21-3, 14-1 A-R-C) its first conference loss since Jan. 26, 2019 to snap a run of 20-straight triumphs. The loss also prevents the Prairie Wolves from becoming the first undefeated team in league play since 1968-69.

Kyle Wagner was feeling it from the court to go 9-for-11 and a perfect 4-for-4 from deep en route to 25 points for a game-high. Conor Riordan chipped in 23 points and seven rebounds and Adam Reiter held down the paint with 19 points and seven boards.

Collin Lister provided 10 points off the bench to help the Storm shoot 53.3% for their second-straight 50% clip. Passing was a key all game to help extend possessions and find the open shot which led to 21 assists, the team's most since dishing out 46 against Greenville on Nov. 23.

On their first possession, the Storm took an early 3-0 tilt after a triple from Riordan just before the offense strung together a 9-4 run to grab an early 12-4 buffer. During that span, Reiter scored six points on three-straight chances. Simpson lengthened the lead to 15 points at 26-11 on another run.

Simpson looked to go into halftime with a 13-point advantage, but the league's leading scorer, Nate Schimonitz, drained a triple as time expired for some momentum into the break. The Storm shot 43.8% during the first stanza and allowed the visitors to sink 25.9% of its attempts.

Nebraska Wesleyan's quick score at the end of the half faded into Simpson's memory as the offense exploded on a 7-0 spurt to widen the gap at the start of the second half. Over the next four minutes of action, the Storm pushed the advantage to 22 points, but Nebraska Wesleyan chipped away at the deficit to come within 14, forcing head coach Brad Bjorkgren to call a timeout.

Riordan and Wagner each made a 3-pointer out of the timeout, which led to the offense piling on a 25-point buffer with less than seven minutes to play. The Prairie Wolves would trim it to a 24-point lead in favor of Simpson on two occasions down the stretch, but wouldn't get any closer.

Parker Lange put the finishing touch on the upset with a layup through a group of defenders to give the Storm their largest lead of the contest at 30 with a minute to go.

This is the second time all year Nebraska Wesleyan has allowed 86 points in a game and first time since Nov. 16, 2019. This is the first time its offense has shot under 39% all season after finishing with a 30.9% performance tonight.

Up Next
Buena Vista awaits Simpson on Saturday to round out the regular season slate. Tip is set for 4 p.m. inside Cowles Fieldhouse right after the Storm honor their seniors.