ST. PAUL – Simpson College claimed the 71-56 victory over the University of Northwestern- St. Paul Friday night at the ACR Homes Tip-off Tournament. The home team wasn't able to overcome the storm's constant lead throughout the night as the visitors shot 50 percent, with 37.5 percent from outside the three point arc. UNW struggled to execute outside of the paint with 22.6 percent of shots made.

Simpson took an early 8-1 lead over the Eagles, but Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) tallied a steal at 17:31, assisting Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School)'s layup, putting the home team on the board. Simpson kept the momentum going with two consecutive baskets, advancing their lead to 11-5 with four minutes into the half. Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) was fouled on his layup at 14:01, with a good free throw to follow. Struggling to find a rhythm, the Purple and Gold had a run of missed jumpers, leading to an Eagle timeout with 11:28 left in the half. Daniel Petkau (Rib Lake, Wis./Rib Lake) found a connection with Matthew Watnemo, who made the lay-up adding points to their 12-18 deficit. Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) came to the rescue with the first home team three-pointer with 9:42 remaining, while the Storm shot 43 percent of their treys up until then. While Sprenger set the tone, Blake Van Maanen (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian) and Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) added treys of their own at 8:17 and 7:41, lessening the visitor's lead to 21-24. However, Simpson wasn't giving up their lead easily, adding seven additional points on the board before Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) responded with a shot in the paint with three minutes left in the period. With another Ooms layup at 1:07, the Eagles trailed 26-34. Unable to close the gap, Simpson ended the half with a 29-35 lead over the tournament hosts.

Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) was the first to come out scoring in the second period with a layup at 19:32; however, Simpson built a 13 point lead before the Eagles were finally able to respond with Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg)'s trey at 15:22 in the game of catch-up. Shephard fed of off his own energy with a jumper to follow and two good free throws with 14 minutes remaining in the half, narrowing the visitor's lead to eight points. Unfortunately, the Storm wasn't going to allow much of a comeback as they continued to lead 38-50 with 13:07 on the clock. Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) came in with a crowd-pleasing three-pointer with eight minutes left, but the energy was slowly fading for the Eagles. With five minutes remaining, Simpson reached their largest buffer of the game with a 20 point lead, making the score 49-69. Unwilling to finish the game with such a large margin, the Eagles made a slight comeback in the last few minutes, adding seven points to the board but ended 56-71 as the horn blew.

For the Eagles, Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville), shot 2-4 behind the arc, and Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School), shot 4-5 in the paint, and both led the Eagles with 10 points apiece. Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) and Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) respectively added nine each.
Only two Simpson players finished in double digits with Charles Swain stealing the show with 17 points.
The Purple and Gold ended tonight's contest with 30 rebounds, nine of which were offensive. In comparison, Simpson put up 39 rebounds, with only seven being on offense.

Northwestern (0-2) will end the four-team ACR Homes Tip-off Tournament with a game tomorrow night at 7 p.m. against the University of Dubuque. Dubuque enters tomorrow's match-up with a 3-0 record so far this season, including their victory over North Central in Friday afternoon's match-up.