Duhawks defeat Storm in A-R-C action

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Aided by a big night from one of the American Rivers Conference's top scorers, Loras defeated the Simpson College men's basketball team 81-68 on Wednesday evening inside Cowles Fieldhouse.

The Storm (4-14, 1-8 A-R-C) scored seven of the game's opening nine points as baskets from Tajen Ross, Jack Hutchinson and Deontei Johnson gave the home team an early 7-2 lead. After Loras (13-5, 5-4 A-R-C) rallied to go up by seven at the 5:44 mark, Simpson capitalized on a 10-3 run highlighted by eight straight points from Ross to tie the game at 25-all. The Duhawks then went 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the final two minutes on their way to a 34-29 tilt.

After containing the A-R-C's fourth-highest scorer to just three points in the first half, Simpson was outscored 47-39 in the second frame much thanks to 24 points from Rowan McGowen. The fifth-year senior helped the visitors gain their first double-digit lead at 44-32 with back-to-back three-pointers and later knocked down two more in a row to give Loras it's largest lead of the night, 69-48, with 8:45 left in the game. The Storm managed to outscore their guests 20-12 the rest of the way led by Hutchinson with seven. 

Ross led the Storm in both scoring and rebounding thanks to 18 points and seven rebounds. Johnson shot 55.5 percent from the floor and had four free throws for 14 points to go with five rebounds, and Hutchinson chipped in 13 points for his third game in a row with double-digits.

Up Next
Simpson continues its stretch of five games in 10 days with a road contest on Saturday afternoon at Wartburg, which dropped to second place in A-R-C standings after a 59-42 loss to Dubuque on Wednesday evening.