Dunlavy, Storm end home slate on high note

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Tim Dunlavy saved his best for last.

In the final home game of his career, Dunlavy (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) willed Simpson victory, putting the team on his back with a career-high 37 points and 17 rebounds as Simpson beat Buena Vista, 83-80 on Senior Night at Cowles Fieldhouse.

Zack Barragan's (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) 3-point play with 14 seconds left broke an 80-80 tie to seal the win for the Storm (6-17, 3-11 IIAC), who defeated Buena Vista for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Dunlavy's epic performance comes only two games removed from a 29-point, 17-rebound effort in a 70-67 loss against Luther Feb. 3 and marks his third consecutive double-double. He shot 13-for-21 from the field and hit 9 of 11 free throws, scoring the most points by a Simpson player since Jason Soppe tallied 41 against Grinnell Dec. 9, 2006.

Barragan added 11 points and four assists and Robert King (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) chipped in with 10 points.

Wes Nordquist led the Beavers (12-10, 8-5) with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The duo of Nathan Parker and Troy Ticknor scored 13 points each, but only shot a combined 5-for-20 from the field.

Simpson got out to a fast start in the contest and led by 10 after an Andrew Dau (Primghar, Iowa/South O'Brien) layup with 2:36 to go in the first half. From there, Buena Vista scored 15-unanswered stretching into the second half, taking a 49-44 lead two minutes into the period. A jumper from Dunlavy ended Simpson's drought.

The Beavers built a 60-51 lead before Dunlavy took the game over. Starting at the 12:58 mark, he scored 11 unanswered points, single-handedly giving the Storm a 62-60 lead with 10:17 remaining.

Dunlavy assisted on King's jumper with 1:15 to go, giving Simpson an 80-77 lead.

Despite hitting only two shots from the field to that point, Ticknor answered when he drained a step-back trey on the next possession, tying the game 80-80.

Struggling to get a look in its final possession, Simpson head coach Bruce Wilson called a timeout with 18 seconds left in the game and eight seconds showing on the shot clock. The 6-foot tall Barragan then took the pass off the sideline inbound and drove to his left, getting to the hoop and challenging Buena Vista 7-footer, Steve Gute.

He absorbed the contact on the shot while laying the ball in with his left hand to raucous applause from the Simpson faithful.

The Storm close the season with a pair of road games, starting Saturday with a 4 p.m. tipoff against Coe (3-19, 1-12) in Cedar Rapids. The Kohawks provided Simpson its first conference triumph of the season, an 86-68 win Jan. 16.