Good shooters are taking good shots, but they are not making them like they did earlier in the season.

That's why the Coe men's basketball team lost Saturday and it's why the Kohawks are riding a five-game losing streak after getting off to a promising start this season.

The Kohawks missed 23 three-pointers Saturday and shot only 38.3 percent from the field in a 69-63 setback to Simpson in a frustrating Iowa Conference game at Eby Fieldhouse.

The setback dropped Coe to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the league.

"We're on a little bit of an offensive skid right now," said Coe Coach Bryan Martin. "You can't beat teams in our league when you shoot 38 percent. That's how we've shot it the last three games - under 40 percent from the field. That's not going to get it done."

Matt Vonderhaar sank 9 of 14 shots and led the Kohawks with 24 points, including a 4 for 7 performance from behind the arc, but the rest of the starters were 8 of 31 overall and 4 for 17 on 3-pointers.

Marshall Shedeck, who has been a force for the Kohawks all season, had a particularly rough game and finished 1 for 10 from the floor, but Martin said different players have struggled in different games.

"As I told the guys in the locker room, I know they're not trying to miss shots, I know they're not trying to miss free throws," he said. "The only thing you can do about it is get extra shots up in practice, work a little bit harder and hopefully it starts falling again."

Trevor Haaland hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points for the Kohawks, but nobody else reached double figures.

"One of our biggest strengths has been our balance offensively," said Martin. "When we are successful, we have four to five guys in double figures."

Coe jumped to an early eight-point lead, but Simpson rebounded for a 37-35 edge at halftime. The Storm opened a 13-point margin with 7:37 left in the game at 58-45 and withstood a mild comeback by the Kohawks.

The Kohawks finished 13 for 35 on 3-pointers. They made only 10 two-point baskets and shots only six free throws. Coe fired mostly from the perimeter and had trouble scoring near the basket.

"They (Simpson) made adjustments and really made us one-dimensional and made it hard for us to get easy baskets at the rim," said Martin. "The winning teams find ways to get easy baskets. We just had a hard time getting them tonight."

Martin is confident his team will get rolling again soon.

"We have quality guys in the locker room. We have quality leaders," he remarked. "Nobody has given up here."

Martin, who played basketball at Simpson, had a 6-0 record against his alma mater prior to Saturday's defeat.

Austin Turner led Simpson (8-5, 1-1) with 17 points.

SIMPSON (69): Gretzky 4 2-2 10, Skaar 3 2-4 10, Amsbaugh 2 3-3 8, Turner 6 2-3 17, Dafney 4 2-3 10, Rajewski 0 0-0 0, Thompson 1 0-0 2, Good 0 2-2 2, Smith 1 0-0 3, Montgomery 1 0-0 3, Singleton 0 0-0 0, Olson 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 13-17 69.

COE (63): Vonderhaar 9 2-2 24, Meyer 1 0-0 2, Shedeck 1 2-2 4, Timm 2 0-1 4, Haaland 4 0-0 12, Vorba 3 0-0 9, Pflughaupt 2 0-1 6, Wadsager 0 0-0 0, Fahey 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-6 63.

Halftime - Simpson 37, Coe 35. 3-point goals - Simpson 8 (Turner 3, Skaar 2, Amsbaugh 1, Smith 1, Montgomery 1), Coe 13 (Vonderhaar 4, Haaland 4, Vorba 3, Pflughaupt 2).