Men’s Basketball: Olivet loses to Simpson, 77-55

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team fell to Simpson (Iowa) College, 77-55, in its first game of the 2023 Cruzin' Classic today at Barry University's Health & Sports Center.

• Final Score: Simpson 77, Olivet 55
• Location: Health & Sports Center; Miami Gardens, Florida
• Records: Olivet 2-6 overall, Simpson 5-5 overall

• The first half featured large scoring runs for both teams. Simpson built an 11-2 lead at the 16:15 mark. Olivet answered an 8-2 scoring spurt over the next four minutes to trim its deficit down to three points. The Storm responded with a 12-4 run to go up 13 points, 27-14, at the 6:09 mark. The Comets battled back with a 9-2 spurt to make the score 29-23 with 3:43 left until halftime. Simpson scored six of the final seven points of the half for a 35-24 advantage at the break. In the second half, the Storm extended its lead to as many as 24 points with 4:01 left in the game.

• Junior Nolan Finkbeiner came off the bench to score a team-leading 11 points.
• Freshman Nathan Richardson joined him in double figures with 10 points.
• Senior Drew Weber and freshman Brayden Wine each grabbed six rebounds.
• Freshman Conner Schipper tallied three blocks.

• "We have just been in this funk that we can't seem to get out of," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. " It's tough when you're in a slump because the pressure kind of grows every game. It's frustrating because we see the ball go in during practice. We're so happy with how we share the ball, our assist ratio has been incredible, and we truly have a team that doesn't care who shoots or gets the credit. These guys want to win so bad. We just have to go back at, keep believing, and keep working until we're out of opportunities."

• The Comets face Ohio Northern University tomorrow in their second game at the Cruzin' Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.