Getting their second win was important for the Storm over the AIB Eagles in a 65-50 battle, but there’s still a long way to go for Simpson to get where they need to be.

Take point guard Elijah Knox, for example.

Knox, who was in foul trouble for most of the afternoon, came through with nine quiet points and eight assists, knows that the team as a whole didn’t play their best game.

“I made some dumb mistakes and a couple turnovers I know I shouldn’t have made,” said Knox. “We got through today with a win, but it could have been better.”

Knox had two fouls within a 57-second window late in the first half, and the pair didn’t help him out any.

“I can’t have mistakes like that in the long run,” Knox said.

“Coach Zanders didn’t really say anything about the fouls, but I know he was upset about those two fouls when I came back to the bench,” Knox said.

While Knox didn’t have one of his best days, center Austin Hennings had a better one.

Hennings walked away from the win with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“I had a size advantage, and thought I utilized that well,” said the freshman transfer. “We still have some work to do, but thought we played better than the last four games.”

Leading scorer on the afternoon was Charles Swain with 18 points. Half of those came in the second half from downtown.

“He’s been our ace in the hole since he’s arrived,” Knox said. “Not many people outside the team know that he was our second best shooter last year beside (Zack) Barragan, and this year, he’s our best. When he can turn it on, he can light up the scoreboard.”

Although the win is a good step in the right direction, the Storm are only 2-4 on the season with another junior college school waiting in the wings on Tuesday.

“It’s nice to get the monkey off our back, but there are other schools that are very good still waiting for us to play them,” Hennings said.

Knox agrees that the two games coming up for the Storm are huge, including a battle next weekend against #5 North Central.

“North Central is going to be a real test for us coming up, no question,” he said. “We saw them last year and beat them pretty handily, but they’re a different team than last year.”

Before that, there’s Graceland to take care of.

“They look beatable,” Knox said. “If we can keep our turnovers down at a premium, and not make mistakes, we should come out with a win.”

The two-step for the Storm begins Tuesday night at home against Graceland at 7:05 p.m. before traveling to the Chicago area to face North Central Saturday night.