Highlights
Zanders Postgame Interview
INDIANOLA, Iowa - The Simpson men's basketball team held the league's leading scorer 10 below his season average and built a big enough lead to hold on for a 75-71 win over Wartburg on Saturday at Cowles Fieldhouse.
Chad Boston posted his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Storm (8-9, 5-4 Iowa Conference), who won their fourth game in a row.
Simpson led by as many as 19 in the second half before being outscored 38-23 in the final 13:27.
"The fact that we were up big and let them get back into it is a little dissapointing, but at the end of the day we're going to take the victory," head coach Charles Zanders said.
Zack Barragan added 15 points while Drew Bentley andd Elijah Knox added 13 apiece. Cornelius Mosby posted his ninth double-digit rebound effort of the season with 15.
Leading 70-68 with 1:31 to go, Boston connected on a clutch jumper in the lane to give Simpson a 72-68 lead. After misses by both teams, a free throw by Tanner Kramer pulled Wartburg within three before Barragan knocked down a pair for a 74-69 lead. Wartburg again cut the lead to three on a jumper by Mitchell Murphy but a free throw by Knox with 13 seconds left iced it.
Murphy scored 14 points to lead the Knights (8-10, 2-7), who lost for the fifth time in six tries.
Boasting a much improved defense over the last four games, Simpson held the conference's leading scorer, Jordan Sathoff, to 10 points. Traditionally, Sathoff has fared well against the Storm. He scored 28 in the first meeting this season and came into the game averaging better than 30 points a game in the series over the last two seasons.
"It's no secret he was the primary focus of our walk-throughs, our defensive strategy ... every thing funneled from him on out," Zanders said. "We figured someone else was going to have to beat us tonight, we were't going to allow him to kill us as he has in the past.
"For us to win this game tonight we needed to play well, we needed to contain [Sathoff] and work hard to not let somebody else step up and shine."
Simpson's lead peaked at 52-33 with 13:45 left in the game. Drew Crawford cut it to 10 when he knocked down a 3 with 9:10 left, sparking a 7-0 Wartburg run. Sathoff did all his damage in the final 5 minutes, scoring eight points as part of an 11-5 run that brought Wartburg within a bucket with 1:53 left.
Currently tied for fifth in the conference, Simpson has an opportunity to climb the ladder when it hits the road to take on Dubuque (12-5, 7-2) next Wednesday, Jan. 25. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.