Box Score
INDIANOLA, Iowa—The Wartburg men’s basketball team (8-10 overall, 2-7 IIAC) fell 75-71 to Iowa Conference opponent, Simpson (8-9, 5-4) Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Storm avoided the season sweep as the Knights took the first meeting 81-76 on Dec. 3.

Wartburg outscored Simpson in the second half, 47-42, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the first-half margin.

Three players finished in double figures for the Orange and Black as sophomore Mitchell Murphy (Cresco) paced the team with his 14 points. Classmate Eddie Diemer (Cedar Falls) and senior Jordan Sathoff (Packwood) each finished with 10 points on the day.

Sathoff narrowly missed a double-double as he led the team on the glass with nine rebounds.

Simpson took the 33-24 lead at halftime.

The Knights trimmed the margin to single digits (56-47) with 9:10 remaining and were down by two with 1:53 to go.

The Orange and Black were down by three with :18 on the clock as Murphy made a jump shot. Wartburg quickly fouled to try to get the ball back. The Storm made one of their two free throws to make the score 75-71 with :13 to play.

Wartburg came down with the defensive rebound and tried to execute a three-point basket, but unfortunately, was unsuccessful in its two last-second attempts.

The Knights return to the court Wednesday when they host Buena Vista at 7 p.m.