Men's Basketball Comeback Attempt Falls Short In Final Seconds Against Simpson

STORM LAKE, Iowa.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against Simpson College but the Storm fended off the Griffins late for the 84-79 win.

Final: Simpson 84, Fontbonne 79

Location: Storm Lake, Iowa.

Records: Simpson 2-1, Fontbonne 0-2

How It Happened

In the first half, the Storm opened with a quick 10-2 lead but over the next five minutes the Griffins went on a 10-2 run of its own to tie the game up at the 12:08 mark on Jalen Wadlington's made jumper.

The Storm continued to hold a marginal lead throughout the half, however a bucket from Noah Coddington and two made free throws from Jared Woodcock put Fontbonne down 32-31 with just under two minutes remaining.

Simpson regained the three-point lead, though the Griffins closed out the half on a free throw made by Coddington and a bucket from Caden Clark to tie the game at the break, 34-34.

Both teams shot just over 39.0 percent in the first 20:00 minutes. After struggling from the line in the opener against STLCOP, the Griffins fared much better tonight going 11-of-12 in the half.

In the second half, the Griffins grabbed a 45-44 lead on Clark's 3-pointer with 14:42 remaining. Later, the Storm were leading by five (61-56), but the Griffins responded with a 5-0 run all from Wadlington's made jumper and 3-pointer to it up once again, 61-61, with 9:43 on the clock.

The two teams went on to flip-flop on lead changes with Fontbonne owning the 72-71 advantage at 4:51 on Wadlington's made jump shot.

However, the Storm grabbed the lead back on its next possession and continued to hold onto it with the clock ticking down. Clark trimmed the deficit down to 82-79 with 40.0 seconds left. After a blocked shot by Clark on the other end, the Griffins called a timeout to draw up a play with hopes to tie the game.

However, out of the break, the team missed the 3-point attempt and with the Storm getting the board they were able to ice the game away with two made free throws for the five-point win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot a season-high 48.4 percent from the floor and 88.2 percent from the charity-stripe.
• The Griffins also won the battle on the boards with a 39-35 advantage.
• The Griffins bench outscored the Storm's 50-15.
• The Storm ended with a 45.7 field goal percentage and went 16-of-20 (80.0 percent) from the line.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Clark filled up the stat sheet again with 13 points, five assists and four rebounds.
• Woodcock and Wadlington both posted season-highs in points with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
• Domonic Doolin went 4-of-5 from the field to finish with a season-high eight points. Malachy Simpson made his collegiate debut and went 3-of-5 to end with eight points.

Simpson Leaders

• Conor Riordan had himself a night going 10-of-17 from the field to end with a game-high 25 points. He added eight rebounds and six assists.
• Kyler Wagner netted 18 points, while Adam Reiter shot 60.0 percent from the floor to finish with 16.

Up Next

The Griffins are right back at it tomorrow afternoon when they'll take on host Buena Vista. Tip-off at 2 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates on the men's basketball team.

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