Beaver Falls, PA—The Geneva College men's basketball team opened its season by coming back late to knock off the University of Valley Forge, 75-68, on the opening day of the Coaches vs Cancer tournament.  Geneva improved on the young season to 1-0, while Valley Forge fell to 0-1.

There were undoubtedly a lot of emotions in the building for the opening tipoff.  Not only was it the Golden Tornadoes' season opener, they were welcoming back one of their own, DJ Damazo, who finished his playing career in 2013 and is now the head coach for Valley Forge.  To add to that, senior Jimmy Leichliter was just eight points shy of 1,000 career points entering the game.

Geneva opened the game by scoring four quick points, but the offensive struggle began from there.  Neither team could find the range, particularly from deep, as the two teams combined to go 4-26 from 3-point range in the first half.  Geneva did just enough, though, to head into the locker room with a 36-29 lead, highlighted by a Leichliter layup that pushed him over 1,000 career points.

Leichliter opened the second half by hitting a 3-pointer to give Geneva its biggest lead of the game, 39-29, and Geneva looked to be taking control.  However, over the next 13 minutes Geneva went ice cold, and Valley Forge took advantage, and when Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero called a timeout with six minutes remaining, his team was staring at a 64-55 deficit.  Whatever Santarsiero said, it worked.

After settling for a lot of 3 point attempts for most of the game, Geneva began attacking the rim, and it paid immediate dividends.  Geneva scored the next ten points, and after layup by junior Danny Torok regained the lead at 67-66, Geneva never looked back, holding on for the 75-68 victory.

"We just battled all night long," Santarsiero said after the game.  "We couldn't get any shots to drop, but we really persevered and found a way to get the win.  Eric McGee really gave us a lift late, as well as Nick Rusyn.  But we have lots to work on, that's for sure."

Coach Damazo was glad to be back on campus as well.  "It was fun being back and seeing so many people that have had a significant impact in my life.  It was a great environment tonight.  I just wish we would have held on for the win."

Leichliter led the way with 21 points.  Sophomore Ethan Moose added 14 points and 10 rebounds, while the sophomore Rusyn was also huge on the night with a double-double of his own, contributing 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Geneva has a short turnaround as it plays Penn College tomorrow on the second day of the Coaches vs Cancer season opening tournament.  That game will tipoff at 3:00 p.m.