The Simpson Storm men’s basketball team earned their first American Rivers Conference victory under new head coach Kyle Jones in a 61-57 win at Luther on Saturday, while the Storm women fell just short of a big comeback in an 84-83 loss as heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Storm men went back and forth with the Norse throughout the first half, with both teams building leads as high as seven through hot and cold shooting from the floor, with the Storm leading just 37-36 at halftime. The Storm came out firing in the third quarter, leading for the majority of the second half including up 53-47 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest, when both offenses went cold. Simpson would hit just three more shots the rest of the way, but the Norse could muster just three themselves, as Caden Rehmeier came off the bench for the Storm to put the game away with a clutch turnaround shot to end any chance of a Norse comeback attempt. Rehmeier led the team with 14 points.

The Storm women were behind nearly the entire contest to the Norse, who despite an early deficit consistently built a double-digit lead only to see Simpson get the score back within a possession, only to hit clutch shots to get the lead back. The Storm stayed close throughout, trailing 22-16 at the end of the first and Luther built an 11-point lead at halftime 41-30. Simpson got back within four to start the fourth at 68-64, and finally got the lead on a clutch bucket with less than a minute to go 83-82, only for Luther to reclaim the lead on the next possession, and a game-winning shot fell just short. Molly Lutmer led Simpson with 27 points.

Both teams head to Buena Vista on Wednesday.