INDIANOLA - None of the players on the Simpson men's basketball roster had ever played in the Iowa Conference Tournament before Tuesday night, but the inexperience didn't show.

Zack Barragan and Cornelius Mosby scored 17 points apiece and fourth-seeded Simpson looked like a group of seasoned veterans in a 78-72 win over fifth-seeded Buena Vista in the opening round of the Iowa Conference Tournament at Cowles Fieldhouse.

The Storm (12-14) advance to the semifinal round, where they will face top-seeded Luther on Thursday in Decorah. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

A year after finishing at the bottom of the conference, Simpson has itself two wins away from the first Iowa Conference Tournament Championship in school history.

Stefon Brown finished with 10 points, five assists and two steals. Mosby added seven rebounds and JJ Vanderheiden and Elijah Knox scored nine a piece.

Doug Bissen posted a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Beavers (11-15), who were swept in three games against Simpson. Michael Kaufmann scored 14 on 4 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc.

Trailing by five early in the second half, Simpson came back to tie the game at 44 on a Dave Fouch free throw with 13:20 remaining. Fouch canned a 3-pointer on the next possession, giving the Storm the lead for good.

Simpson led by as much as nine in the final seven minutes before a 3 by Andy Puhrmann made the score 71-69 with 29 seconds left. But Barragan hit four straight free throws and Vanderheiden made 1 of 2 in the final seconds to secure the win.

As a team, Simpson shot 77.3 percent (17 of 22) from the free throw line, led by Mosby with a perfect 8-for-8 effort.

The win is Simpson's first in a postseason game since 2007, while Buena Vista suffered its first opening-round loss in the 13-year history of the IIAC Tournament.