Prairie Wolves get past Storm in conference play

LINCOLN, Neb. - The Simpson College men's basketball team made a patented late second-half charge, but ran out of time, falling to Nebraska Wesleyan in American Rivers Conference play on Wednesday.

The Storm (12-11, 5-10 A-R-C) and the Prairie Wolves (16-8, 11-4 A-R-C) traded buckets to start, with the Storm taking an early 7-6 lead after four quick points from Andrew Gibb. However, the Prairie Wolves answered back with an 11-0 run, leading by 10. Easton Darling nailed two threes on back-to-back possessions, but after each, the Prairie Wolves answered with a triple of their own.

The Storm cut the lead back to four, but the Prairie Wolves immediately went on another 11-0 run. Caden McGuire made a big three at the end of the half to shorten the lead to 10, giving the Storm positive momentum heading into the halftime break.

The Prairie Wolves started the second half on a 10-0 run, before Gibb made a pair of free throws to stop the run. Nebraska Wesleyan seemed to be pulling away, but the Storm responded with a big 13-2 run to cut the lead to single-digits, after another triple from McGuire.

The Storm's three-point shooting was much better than in recent games, as McGuire, Darling, and Caden Rehmeier made 10 of their 17 three-point attempts. Rehmeier was particularly effective from behind the line, nailing five from seven attempts, including a pair to open up the second half. However, the Prairie Wolves' leading scorer Peter Lash nailed a huge triple to put Nebraska Wesleyan back up double digits, which seemed to reverse the momentum the Storm had rode to get back into the game.

Combined with Lash's triple, the Prairie Wolves embarked on a 10-2 run to stretch their lead back out, leaving the Storm with not enough time to mount another comeback. The Prairie Wolves were able to collect enough points and hold off the Storm's charge to claim the win.

The Storm had three players lead the team in scoring, with Gibb, Rehmeier, and Darling all with 17 points. The issue was that McGuire was the only Storm player who scored on the night. Overall, the Storm shot just under 40 percent from the field, but had a great night from behind the arc, shooting just over the 40 percent mark.

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The Storm will complete their regular season on Saturday by hosting Central at 4 p.m.