Simpson trailed by seven early in the second half, but the Storm mounted a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 49-47 on a Ferezy three-point play. Jason Parkinson tied the game at 49 with a layup at the 12:12 mark. Hittenmiller put the Storm up 51-49 with a jumper a short time later. Jake Olathe tied the game with a pair of free throws, but Scott Ellens put Simpson ahead with a pair of free throws on the next possession. Simpson increased the lead to 56-51 on a Matt Gilbert layup.
The Duhawks switched to a zone defense, cutting the Storm lead to two, but Ellens made a pair of layups to give Simpson a four-point lead. Olathe's three cut the Simpson lead to 62-61. After a timeout, Parkinson made a three to make it a two-possession game. Kyle White made a pair of free throws to cut it to 65-63. After Greg King missed the front end of a 1-n-1, Ellens connected on a layup to give Simpson 67-63 lead. Hittenmiller's jumper on the next Storm possession gave Simpson a six-point lead. Loras missed the next time down, fouling Hittenmiller in the front court. The 6-3 forward was 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, extending the Storm lead to eight with just over two minutes to go.
Steinman's three with 1:50 to go cut the lead to five. Steinmann committed a foul against Hittenmiller with 1:43 remaining. Hittenmiller made 1-of-2 to give Simpson a six-point lead. With 1:29 remaining, Loras made it 72-68.
Olathe fouled David Ferezy when Ferezy rebounded a missed Simpson shot with 47 seconds to go. The 6-6 center made both free throws to push the lead back to six. The Duhawks missed two field goal attempts on their next possession, leading to an Olathe foul of Parkinson. Parkinson made 1-of-2 to give Simpson a 75-68 lead. Loras missed again on offense. Parkinson was fouled again, he again made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, making it 76-68.
Loras failed to connect for the fourth straight possession, Ellens got the rebound and was fouled. The 6-4 forward made both free throws, giving the Storm a 10-point lead. Loras missed for the final time, Brett Cermak got the rebound and dribbled out the clock for the win.
The Storm limited the Duhawks to eight second half field goals (8-for-28, 21.1%). Loras shot 36.2% (25-for-69) in the game. Simpson shot 52% (26-for-50) for the game and outrebounded Loras 41-34 (31-19 on the defensive glass). Hittenmiller led the Storm with 27 points (9-for-12 shooting). Parkinson scored 13 with Ferezy recording a season high 12 points. Ferezy also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a game high five shots. Ellens scored 10 points and had seven rebounds. Loras was led by Braden who had 12. White scored 10 points and nabbed eight rebounds.
The Storm will advance to Thursday night's IIAC Tournament semifinals when Simpson travels to Cedar Rapids to play the #1 seed, Coe at 7 p.m. In the other first round game, #3 Buena Vista defeated #6 Luther 73-71 in Storm Lake. The Beavers will travel to Waverly Thursday to play #2 Wartburg.
At Dubuque, Iowa -- Loras Fieldhouse SIMPSON COLLEGE 78, LORAS COLLEGE 68 SIMPSON COLLEGE (13-13) HITTENMILLER, Ryan 9-12 5-7 27; PARKINSON, Jason 5-12 2-4 13; FEREZY, David 2-4 8-9 12; ELLENS, Scott 3-4 4-4 10; CERMAK, Brett 2-5 0-0 5; GILBERT, Matt 2-5 0-0 4; HAWKINS, Lyndon 1-1 1-4 3; THORSON, Adam 1-4 0-0 2; ALLEN, Chris 1-3 0-0 2; TRAVIS, Jeff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 20-28 78. LORAS COLLEGE (17-9) WHITE, Kyle 7-14 2-2 16; BRADEN, Scottie 4-9 0-0 12; OETH, Jake 3-7 4-4 11; STINEMAN, Bobby 4-15 0-0 11; CENTELLA, Brian 2-9 1-2 5; SLATER, Luke 2-6 0-0 5; KING, Greg 1-6 0-1 3; SULLIVAN, Gavin 1-2 0-0 3; SEAQUIST, Matt 1-1 0-0 2; DEIKE, Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-69 7-9 68. Simpson College............... 36 42 - 78 Loras College................. 43 25 - 68 3-point goals-Simpson College 6-15 (HITTENMILLER, Ryan 4-5; CERMAK, Brett 1-2; PARKINSON, Jason 1-4; GILBERT, Matt 0-1; THORSON, Adam 0-2; ELLENS, Scott 0-1), Loras College 11-33 (BRADEN, Scottie 4-7; STINEMAN, Bobby 3-10; SULLIVAN, Gavin 1-2; KING, Greg 1-4; OETH, Jake 1-2; SLATER, Luke 1-4; CENTELLA, Brian 0-3; WHITE, Kyle 0-1). Fouled out--Simpson College-HAWKINS, Lyndon, Loras College-None. Rebounds-Simpson College 41 (FEREZY, David 9), Loras College 34 (WHITE, Kyle 9). Assists-Simpson College 18 (CERMAK, Brett 7), Loras College 16 (BRADEN, Scottie 4; CENTELLA, Brian 4). Total fouls-Simpson College 13, Loras College 23. A-700