Simpson fell behind early and never could catch back up at home against Coe College, losing 80-60 on Feb. 12.

The Kohawks (13-9, 8-5) led by 12 at the break and kept expanding their lead throughout the second half.

Simpson head coach Brad Bjorkgren spoke candidly in his postgame interview about his team and their recent struggles.

“They were better than us,” Bjorkgren said. “We beat them earlier, but they’ve been playing better. We haven’t been playing as well. I’d like to say we’ve been playing bad in practice, but we really haven’t.”

Simpson had won four home games in a row up until tonight and beat Coe 71-58 in the first meeting in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 4. Tonight, however, the Storm looked like a shell of themselves.

“The world’s not coming to an end,” Bjorkgren said. “It’s a basketball game. We’re 10-12. I don’t know what the scores are, but we still have a chance. We still have something to play for. Granted, we probably have a lot of guys who have never been through this. A lot of coaches that have never been through this. You can either quit or you can keep going.”

Simpson had a tough time defending forward Austin Roth, who scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Guard Tommy Hook also poured in 19 points to help lead the Kohawks.

Much of the struggle for the Storm came on the offensive side of the ball. The Storm shot just 32.4 percent from the field.

“We’re going to keep going and we’re going to keep fighting hard, because that’s what our culture is and that’s what our mentality is,” Bjorkgren said. “The next game, we’re planning on beating Wartburg.”

The Storm were led by guard Conor Riordan. He had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Simpson now sits at 10-12 overall and 4-9 in the conference.

They travel to Wartburg this Saturday for a 4 p.m. tipoff in Waverly, IA.