Simpson called timeout and responded with a Jason Parkinson three-pointer to push the lead back up to six. Alex Maas responded with a three of his own, making it 53-50. After a Storm turnover River Falls’ Mark James hit a layup to cut the lead to 53-52 with 7:01 remaining. Parkinson sank another three to give Simpson a 56-52 lead at the 6:29 mark.
The Falcons’ Eric Kossoris made a layup to get River Falls to within one. The Falcons took a 57-56 lead when Ryan Thompson converted a three-pointer with a little under six minutes remaining. Adam Thorson put the Storm back in front with a layup at the 3:46 mark. Ryan Hittenmiller hit a short jumper to give Simpson a 60-57 lead 24 seconds later. River Falls tied it at 60 on a Hans Hoeg three-pointer. The Falcons took a 62-60 lead with 2:35 remaining when Ryan Thompson made a jumper.
The Storm called a timeout with a little over two minutes to go, but Hittenmiller couldn’t convert, missing his field goal attempt off of the timeout. The Falcons’ Alex Maas missed a three with a minute to go with Hittenmiller grabbing the rebound. On the next Storm offensive possession, Hittenmiller put the Storm up by one with his fifth three of the night, 63-62 with 52 seconds remaining.
Hoeg put the Falcons back into the lead with short jumper with 31 seconds to go. Scott Ellens scored what proved to be the game winner with nine seconds remaining on a jump shot. Hittenmiller forced a Ryan Thompson turnover with seven seconds to go, but missed the front end of a one-in-one. Jason Soppe fouled Eric Kossoris on the rebound, giving the Falcons the last possession. After a River Falls timeout. The Falcons found Maas for a three-point attempt. Maas missed at the buzzer, giving the Storm the victory.
Hittenmiller led all scorers with 21 points. The 6-3 forward was 7-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-8 from three-point range. Soppe recorded his third double-double of the year, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Parkinson scored 11 points and dished out a team high five assists. Thompson led River Falls with 18 points. Hoeg led scored 16 points while Kossoris had 10.
The tournament concluded Dec. 30 when Simpson plays Culver-Stockton at 6 p.m. River Falls plays St. Thomas (Minn.) at 8 p.m. St. Thomas defeated Culver-Stockton 83-69 in the first game on Thursday night.
At River Falls, Wis. SIMPSON COLLEGE 65, WIS.-RIVER FALLS 64 SIMPSON COLLEGE (4-5) HITTENMILLER, Ryan 7-13 2-3 21; SOPPE, Jason 7-13 0-2 14; PARKINSON, Jason 4-11 0-0 11; ELLENS, Scott 4-7 0-0 8; THORSON, Adam 2-2 0-0 4; CERMAK, Brett 1-2 0-0 3; GILBERT, Matt 1-5 0-0 2; ALLEN, Chris 1-3 0-0 2; FEREZY, David 0-0 0-0 0; TRAVIS, Jeff 0-0 0-0 0; HAWKINS, Lyndon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 2-5 65. WIS.-RIVER FALLS (2-9) Thompson, Ryan 7-11 0-0 18; Hoeg, Hans 7-11 0-0 16; Kossoris, Eric 4-12 1-1 10; James, Mark 4-10 0-0 8; Kelly, Scott 3-5 0-0 7; Maas, Alex 1-4 0-0 3; Zylstra, Ryan 1-5 0-0 2; Rondeau, Cory 0-0 0-0 0; Olson, Erik 0-1 0-0 0; Hall, Nick 0-1 0-0 0; Glaeser, Jimmy 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 1-1 64. Simpson College............... 34 31 - 65 Wis.-River Falls.............. 18 46 - 64 3-point goals-Simpson College 9-17 (HITTENMILLER, Ryan 5-8; PARKINSON, Jason 3-7; CERMAK, Brett 1-1; GILBERT, Matt 0-1), Wis.-River Falls 9-30 (Thompson, Ryan 4-8; Hoeg, Hans 2-6; Kelly, Scott 1-3; Maas, Alex 1-3; Kossoris, Eric 1-6; Olson, Erik 0-1; Hall, Nick 0-1; Glaeser, Jimmy 0-2). Fouled out--Simpson College-None, Wis.-River Falls-None. Rebounds-Simpson College 38 (SOPPE, Jason 11), Wis.-River Falls 28 (James, Mark 7). Assists-Simpson College 16 (PARKINSON, Jason 5), Wis.-River Falls 14 (Thompson, Ryan 5). Total fouls-Simpson College 9, Wis.-River Falls 11. A-318