Ryan Hittenmiller cut the Yellow Jacket lead down to one with a three from the left corner 15 seconds later. Keith Van Natta put Graceland back up by three with a layup with 2:44 to go. Martin, the Storm point guard, took his first shot of the night four seconds later, and his three gave the Storm the lead. Graceland had two more possession but could not score.
The Storm ran the ball down to 48 seconds, but Hittenmiller's short jumper was not good, Jason Soppe pulled down his sixth offensive rebound of the night to give Simpson another possession. With 23 seconds remaining Martin took a 17-footer from the top of the key, giving the Storm a 68-64 lead. The Yellow Jackets took one more shot, but it was no good. Scott Ellens made 1-2 free throws with six seconds to go to make it the final 69-64.
Hittenmiller led all scorers with 18 points. Soppe recorded his fourth double-double in six games this season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Lynch, a 5-10 guard, led Graceland with 13 points, a team high nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Van Natta also posted 13 points.
At Indianola, IA (Cowles Fieldhouse) SIMPSON COLLEGE 69, GRACELAND UNIV. 64 GRACELAND UNIV. (6-7) LYNCH, Matt 6-11 0-0 13; VAN NATTA, Keith 6-11 0-0 13; HOLSTROM, Chad 3-11 0-0 9; EASTER, Dan 3-3 2-2 8; HOLT, Jason 3-9 0-0 6; DALSING, Josh 2-3 0-0 5; MEIEROTTO, Tyson 1-6 1-2 4; SMITH, Wendell 1-4 2-2 4; HARRY, Gregory 1-2 0-0 2; DOW, Tyler 0-1 0-0 0; CONNER, Roman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 5-6 64. SIMPSON COLLEGE (3-5) HITTENMILLER, Ryan 7-15 2-4 18; SOPPE, Jason 5-12 3-5 13; KELLER, Mitch 4-6 0-0 9; PARKINSON, Jason 4-14 0-0 8; ELLENS, Scott 2-6 3-6 7; MARTIN, Mike 2-2 0-0 5; KASPERBAUER, T.J. 1-6 0-0 3; THORSON, Adam 1-5 0-0 3; CERMAK, Brett 1-1 0-0 2; ALLEN, Brad 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 27-67 9-17 69. Graceland Univ................ 36 28 - 64 Simpson College............... 33 36 - 69 3-point goals-Graceland Univ. 7-21 (HOLSTROM, Chad 3-8; DALSING, Josh 1-2; VAN NATTA, Keith 1-4; LYNCH, Matt 1-5; MEIEROTTO, Tyson 1-1; SMITH, Wendell 0-1), Simpson College 6-17 (HITTENMILLER, Ryan 2-5; MARTIN, Mike 1-1; THORSON, Adam 1-3; KELLER, Mitch 1-1; KASPERBAUER, T.J. 1-3; ELLENS, Scott 0-1; PARKINSON, Jason 0-3). Fouled out--Graceland Univ.-None, Simpson College-None. Rebounds-Graceland Univ. 34 (LYNCH, Matt 9), Simpson College 45 (SOPPE, Jason 13). Assists-Graceland Univ. 15 (LYNCH, Matt 6), Simpson College 20 (CERMAK, Brett 5). Total fouls-Graceland Univ. 19, Simpson College 6. A-200