The Storm men’s basketball team was defeated in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals Feb. 19 by Cornell in a very tight game, 79-76.

Sophomore Matt Brown led the Storm with 18 points, junior Jesse Harris contributed 13 and sophomore Jason Snyder added 10 points to the board for Simpson. This loss brings the season to an end for the Simpson men.

“I am very pleased with how we finished the year,” said head coach Bruce Wilson. “We got better and better as the year progressed.”

The Storm began the season with a record of 3-7 after their first ten games, but improved to finish third in the conference with a record of 12-6, and an overall record of 14-12.

“We really came together as a team,” said senior Shane Bogaards. “Overall, we put forth a good effort this year.”

The other senior on the Storm squad this year, Luke Duenser, said, “We worked through the adversity our team faced after the first ten games,” said Duenser. “We didn’t quit after our rough start and we worked hard to improve during the entire season.”

Bogaards and Duenser made valuable contributions for the Storm.

“Our seniors were an integral part of the team,” said Wilson. “Luke was a great leader and communicator for us. Shane always did an outstanding job hustling, and he consistently shot the ball well. They both really poured their heart and soul into this team.”

Another noteworthy member of the men’s team is junior Jesse Harris. He was a finalist for the IIAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, and is a 2002 Academic All-Conference selection.

Harris has also been named the Iowa Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week twice, and was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for Dec. 9.

There will be 18 returners for the Storm next year, and Wilson is already looking toward the next season.

“We hope to carry our solid defending into next season. We need to improve our shooting in the off-season, so we can be even stronger going into next year,” said Wilson.