Storm comes up short

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Taylor Blum scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and Dubuque held off a late Simpson rally, escaping Cowles Fieldhouse with an 83-79 win Thursday night.

Originally scheduled for Wednesday night, the game was pushed to Thursday due to an ice storm that blanketed central Iowa.

The Storm (4-13, 1-7 IIAC) trailed by as much as 18 in the first half, but fought back with a 26-6 run over an eight minute, 30 second span to take a 48-46 lead less than three minutes into the second half.

Leading 79-71 with a little more than three minutes remaining, the Spartans (12-5, 5-3 IIAC) slowed down their offense in an attempt to run out the clock.

Trailing by seven after a jumper from Blum, a layup from Andrew Dau (Primghar, Iowa/South O'Brien) cut the lead to five. After a defensive stop, Zack Barragan (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) knocked down his only three-pointer of the game to bring Simpson within a bucket with 40 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession, the Storm defense converged on Blum, allowing the conference's leading scorer to find Matt Poirer alone under the hoop for an insurance bucket with nine seconds remaining.

Senior center Tim Dunlavy (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) narrowly missed his fifth double-double of the season for the Storm, scoring a team-high 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds while shooting a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arch. Dau added 14 points and six rebounds and Barragan chipped in with 11 points and a game-high five assists.

Poirer contributed to Dubuque's effort with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, followed by Lee Piccineli with 12 and Jeremy Weaks with 11.

Now once through the conference slate, Simpson begins the second cycle Saturday, hosting league-leading Central (13-4, 6-2 IIAC) at Cowles Fieldhouse. The Dutch defeated Simpson 81-64 in the season's first meeting at Pella. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., following the women's game at 2.