Jason Soppe’s layup with 1:39 to go made it 65-63 Nebraska Wesleyan. Marcus Minzel made 1-of-2 free throws next time down for 66-63 Prairie Wolves’ lead. The Storm fed the ball in the post for Soppe who was fouled by Ryan Glantz with 51 seconds remaining. The 6-5 center made both free throws to make it a one-point game. Nebraska Wesleyan’s Tyler Ideus was fouled four seconds later. He missed both of his free throw attempts, giving the Storm the ball with 46 seconds to go. Simpson’s Brennen Tubaugh scored what proved to be the gamewinning basket with a layup with 32 seconds to go. Nebraska Wesleyan called an immediate timeout.
The Prairie Wolves worked the clock down to eight seconds, but Brett Cermak stripped the ball away from Roy O’Neil. Cermak worked three seconds off the clock before being fouled by Kyle Eller. Cermak missed his first free throw attempt, but he made the second, giving the Storm a 68-66 lead. Simpson called timeout to set up their defense. Marcus Minzel got the ball for Nebraska Wesleyan, but his runner missed as time expired, giving the Storm the victory.
Soppe scored a game high 18 points and grabbed a game high eight rebounds to pace Simpson. Ryan Hittenmiller scored 11 points while Tubaugh recorded a career high 10 points. He was 4-for-4 from the floor. O’Neil led the Prairie Wolves with 12 points. Brandon Arp scored 11 while Minzel had 10 for Nebraska Wesleyan.
The Storm are off until Dec. 27 when Simpson travels to Phoenix, Ariz. for the Cactus Jam. The Storm take on Mt. Union in the first round of the tournament in a 10 a.m. MST tip-off.
At Lincoln, NE (Snyder Gym) SIMPSON COLLEGE 68, NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 66 SIMPSON COLLEGE (4-3) SOPPE, Jason 6-10 6-8 18; HITTENMILLER, Ryan 5-15 1-2 11; TUBAUGH, Brennen 4-4 1-2 10; THORSON, Adam 3-5 2-2 8; CERMAK, Brett 2-3 3-4 7; HAWKINS, Lyndon 2-4 3-6 7; DUNLAVY, Tim 2-4 1-4 5; PARKINSON, Jason 1-6 0-0 2; FEREZY, David 0-0 0-0 0; DAU, Andrew 0-2 0-0 0; TRAVIS, Jeff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 17-28 68. NEBRASKA WESLEYAN (4-6) O'Neil, Roy 5-7 1-2 12; Arp, Brandon 4-6 2-2 11; Minzel, Marcus 3-8 3-4 10; Aylward, Dylan 3-9 2-2 8; Eller, Kyle 3-7 0-0 7; Madsen, Nick 2-7 1-2 5; Joynt, Matt 2-5 0-0 4; Ideus, Tyler 1-2 2-4 4; Meyer, Hayden 1-2 0-0 3; Glantz, Ryan 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-54 11-16 66. Simpson College............... 31 37 - 68 Nebraska Wesleyan............. 29 37 - 66 3-point goals-Simpson College 1-6 (TUBAUGH, Brennen 1-1; HITTENMILLER, Ryan 0-2; DUNLAVY, Tim 0-1; PARKINSON, Jason 0-1; DAU, Andrew 0-1), Nebraska Wesleyan 5-12 (Arp, Brandon 1-1; Minzel, Marcus 1-3; Meyer, Hayden 1-2; Eller, Kyle 1-1; O'Neil, Roy 1-1; Ideus, Tyler 0-1; Madsen, Nick 0-1; Aylward, Dylan 0-2). Fouled out--Simpson College-None, Nebraska Wesleyan-Joynt, Matt. Rebounds-Simpson College 30 (SOPPE, Jason 8), Nebraska Wesleyan 31 (Aylward, Dylan 6). Assists-Simpson College 12 (TRAVIS, Jeff 4), Nebraska Wesleyan 13 (Eller, Kyle 5). Total fouls-Simpson College 17, Nebraska Wesleyan 22. A-400