MBB Preview: Senior day awaits Storm on Saturday

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- A spot in the American Rivers Conference Tournament is still on the line for the Simpson men's basketball team with the regular season finale on Saturday. The Storm host Buena Vista for a 4 p.m. contest on senior day.

Simpson (12-12, 6-9 A-R-C) triumphed over the No. 6 Prairie Wolves, 86-59, on Wednesday night to stun the 2018 NCAA DIII National Champions inside Cowles Fieldhouse. The Beavers (18-6, 9-6 A-R-C) grabbed a 97-85 victory at home against Central on Wednesday.

To earn a seed in the A-R-C Tournament, the Storm need to win on Saturday or Wartburg needs to lose against Dubuque.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com as Todd Guessford has the call. Fans can also access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

GAME 25
Buena Vista (18-6, 9-6 A-R-C) at Simpson (12-12, 6-9 A-R-C)
Saturday, Feb. 22 | 4 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats

BUENA VISTA SERIES NOTES
The Storm and Beavers meet for the 159th time dating back to 1921, with Simpson owning an 81-77 record ... the Storm won both contests last year to snap a five-game losing streak in the series ... in the teams' last meeting of the 2018-19 series, Conor Riordan and Kyle Wagner both scored 23 points as the team connected on 18 triples, its most in a game in program history ... the Storm used a 19-point cushion at halftime to cruise to their first win in Storm Lake since 2012 ... this year, the Beavers bounced back, winning 97-85 in the first matchup of the season.

RECENT RESULTS
Jan. 11, 2020 — L, 97-85 (Storm Lake)
Jan. 23, 2019 — W, 98-89 (Storm Lake)
Dec. 5, 2018 — L, 81-68 (Indianola)
Jan. 20, 2018 — W, 88-82 (Storm Lake)
Nov. 29, 2017 — L, 91-90 (Indianola)

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Buena Vista and first-year head coach Trevor Johnson currently sit fourth in the conference after the Beavers were ranked eighth in the preseason poll ... earlier in the year, Buena Vista went on a five-game winning streak against league opponents, including Loras, Luther, Dubuque, Central and Simpson ... the Beavers then dropped three straight to Nebraska Wesleyan, Luther and Loras ... as a unit, the team is tied for first in the league in scoring (87.9) and second in scoring defense (74.9) ... four players are averaging in double figures for the Beavers; Timothy Jeffries (17.9), Michael Demers (15.1), Dominic Sesma (13.1) and DJ McNeal (12.8).

A-R-C STANDINGS
The Prairie Wolves have already clinched the top seed in the A-R-C Tournament with their fourth-straight conference crown ... Loras, Coe and Buena Vista all have seats in the league tourney, but the final two spots are still up for grabs ... Dubuque is in fifth at 7-8, while Simpson and Wartburg are nearby at 6-9 ... Luther is eighth and Central rounds out the conference.

SENIOR DAY
Before the action begins on Saturday, Simpson will honor its six seniors and two senior student coaches: Jared Bacon, Nick Janssen, Adam Reiter, Conor Riordan, Kenton Thoms, Kyle Wagner, Ben Bjorkgren and Gable Johnson ... since joining the Storm, the senior class has appeared in three conference tournaments and reached the second round last year.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

8th — free throw percentage (77.1%)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Conor Riordan — fifth in free throw percentage (90.6%), eighth in assist to turnover ratio (3.19)
Adam Reiter — 15th in field goal percentage (62.8%)

• In the A-R-C, the Storm are third in scoring (84.0) and in shooting percentage (48.5%), but are seventh in points allowed per contest at 80.5.
• Three starters are scoring in double figures as Conor Riordan is leading the way at 20.0 ppg. Reiter is second at 15.4, and Kyle Wagner follows with an average of 15.0.
• Adam Reiter has been a double-double machine this season and currently has 10 games capturing the feat. Reiter paces the league and had a streak of four-straight contests with a double-double during the year.
• Conor Riordan was just named to the Academic All-District 8 First Team for the second year in a row. Riordan is one of five players to be selected to the team after holding a 3.94 GPA as a mathematics major.
• 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 ninth in program history with 1,468 and needs 22 points to move into eighth.

UP NEXT
Depending on the outcome of this game and the Dubuque-Wartburg matchup, Simpson could play in the opening round of the A-R-C Tournament on Tuesday.