A combination of Simpson turnovers and poor Storm shooting allowed the Beavers to take their first lead of the game, 33-32, at the 14:00 mark of the second half. Jeff Travis' three-pointer at 13:31 returned the lead to the Storm (35-33). Simpson led 35-34 when a Matt Wintry three-pointer put BV up 37-35. Matt Gilbert's offensive putback tied the score at 37 with 12:00 to go. Travis put the Storm up 40-37 with a three. With the score at 40-39, BV took the lead back on a Eric Holton's with a little over 10 to go. David Ferezy had a chance to tie the score from the free throw line, but he missed both ends of a two-shot foul at 9:13. On the next BV possession, Jesse Schmidt extended the lead to 44-40 with a jumper.
Ellens cut it to 44-42 with an offensive putback. A pair of Schmidt free throws gave the Beavers a 46-42 lead with eight minutes to go. After a Storm miss, Eric Fogelman's layup gave BV a six-point lead. Simpson missed on its next two possessions which led to a Schmidt layup and a 50-42 lead. The Storm turned the ball over once again which once again led to a Schmidt field goal and a 10-point lead with 5:58 remaining.
A Brett Cermak jumper cut the lead to eight with just under five to go. Cermak made a steal and rushed down the court for an easy layup and a six-point Storm deficit. Gilbert was called for a foul, putting Ron Franklin at the line for a 1-n-1 attempt. Franklin made the front end, but he missed the back end for a 53-46 BV lead.
Franklin was called for a foul on the next Simpson possession, sending Gilbert to the charity stripe. He converted on both attempts to make the score 53-48. A Buena Vista turnover led to a Ryan Hittenmiller layup and a 53-50 BV lead. The Beavers called timeout with a little over two minutes to go. The set play worked as Andre Wagner sank a three-pointer to give BV a six-point lead. Simpson turned the ball over on its next possession. Wagner was fouled attempting a three-pointer, sending the Omaha, Neb. native to the line. The 65% free throw shooter made all three of his attempts to give BV a 59-50 lead.
Scott Ellens' reverse layup with 58 seconds to go cut the Beavers' lead to seven. The Storm called a timeout and fouled Jeff Bissen who made both of his free throw attempts to make it 61-52. After a Simpson miss, Bissen was fouled on the rebound. His two free throws made it 63-52. Hittenmiller's field goal with 28 seconds remaining, Simpson again called timeout. The Storm fouled Matt Wittry who only could convert 1-of-2 free throw attempts. Adam Thorson's three made it 64-57 with 18 seconds left. The Simpson press forced two BV timeouts. On Buena Vista's third attempt to get the ball in, the Beavers' long pass was successful and the Storm were forced to foul. Bissen made 1-of-2 free throw attempts, giving BV an eight-point lead. Thorson's layup with five seconds to go made it 65-59.
The Beavers shot 36.2% (17-for-47) for the game but were 26-of-36 from the free throw line. Simpson was 23-for-49 (46.9%) from the field, but could only make six of its 13 free throw attempts. The final total foul count between the two teams was 46 (27 for Simpson, 19 for BV).
Bissen led Buena Vista with 11 points. Schmidt and Wittry each scored 10. Hittenmiller led all scorers with 14 points. He led the Storm in rebounding with six. Ellens was the only other Storm player in double figures with 10.
At Storm Lake, IA BUENA VISTA UNIV. 65, SIMPSON COLLEGE 59 SIMPSON COLLEGE (10-9, 6-4 IIAC) HITTENMILLER, Ryan 6-13 0-0 14; ELLENS, Scott 5-6 0-2 10; CERMAK, Brett 4-8 0-0 9; GILBERT, Matt 1-4 5-6 7; TRAVIS, Jeff 2-3 0-0 6; THORSON, Adam 2-4 1-2 6; PARKINSON, Jason 2-8 0-0 5; FEREZY, David 1-2 0-3 2; HAWKINS, Lyndon 0-0 0-0 0; ALLEN, Chris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 6-13 59. BUENA VISTA UNIV. (6-11, 4-4 IIAC) BISSEN, Jeff 2-8 6-8 11; SCHMIDT, Jesse 4-8 2-2 10; WITTRY, Matt 2-4 5-6 10; WAGNER, Andre 2-10 3-4 9; FRANKLIN, Rahn 0-3 8-10 8; FOGLEMAN, Brian 3-5 1-2 7; HOLTON, Eric 1-1 1-2 4; JOEKEL, Mark 2-2 0-0 4; FRANCIC, Nesha 1-2 0-2 2; GRIMM, Nolan 0-1 0-0 0; PERSON, Travis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 26-36 65. Simpson College............... 32 27 - 59 Buena Vista Univ.............. 25 40 - 65 3-point goals-Simpson College 7-24 (HITTENMILLER, Ryan 2-6; TRAVIS, Jeff 2-2; CERMAK, Brett 1-5; THORSON, Adam 1-2; PARKINSON, Jason 1-6; GILBERT, Matt 0-2; ELLENS, Scott 0-1), Buena Vista Univ. 5-18 (WAGNER, Andre 2-7; HOLTON, Eric 1-1; BISSEN, Jeff 1-4; WITTRY, Matt 1-3; PERSON, Travis 0-2; SCHMIDT, Jesse 0-1). Fouled out--Simpson College-None, Buena Vista Univ.-None. Rebounds-Simpson College 31 (HITTENMILLER, Ryan 6), Buena Vista Univ. 34 (FRANCIC, Nesha 7). Assists-Simpson College 8 (ELLENS, Scott 4), Buena Vista Univ. 8 (GRIMM, Nolan 2; WITTRY, Matt 2). Total fouls-Simpson College 27, Buena Vista Univ. 19. A-1250