Simpson falls at home to Central in conference play

INDIANOLA, Iowa - The Simpson College men's basketball team dropped its home game to Central at Cowles Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.

The Storm (7-11, 1-8 A-R-C) matched the defending conference champions early, but the Dutch (13-6, 7-3 A-R-C) leaned on the conference's leading scorer in Joshua Van Gorp to race ahead around the midway point of the first half. The Dutch then surged ahead in the early stages of the second half and had an answer for any Storm run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Matt Schubert made a nice move inside to tie the game 13-13 in the first half, but the Dutch awoke defensively, embarking on a 12-0 run that stretched over the halfway point of the first half.
• A theme for the rest of the game was the Dutch answering any run the Storm had. After another Schubert bucket to cut the lead to 7, Central nailed a 3-pointer to go up 10.
• A triple from Andrew Gibb put Simpson within eight, but the Dutch went on a 9-2 run to end the half and lead 45-30.
• Central came out strong in the second half, aided by an efficient 75 percent shooting percentage from the field in the period.
• The Dutch quelled each Simpson run and ended up as the victors to move to 7-3 in conference play.

TOP STORM

• Andrew Gibb - 14 points, 5 rebounds
• Andrew Curran - 14 points, 3 rebounds
• Easton Darling - 11 points, 5-10 FG
• Matt Schubert - 10 points, 6 rebounds

NOTABLE

• Central now takes the lead in the all-time series by a tally of 106-105.
• Central scored 64 of its 91 points in the paint, compared to just 24 from Simpson.
• Matt Schubert scored in double figures for the second time in his career.
• Andrew Gibb continues his impressive shooting season, ranking in the top 10 in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage.

UP NEXT
The Storm remain at home to take on Wartburg on Saturday afternoon.