Beaver Falls, PA—For the first time since 2010, the Geneva men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season after it defeated Penn College 87-48 on the second day of the season opening Coaches vs Cancer Tournament.
Most importantly, Geneva saw itself get off to a good start on the year. But a couple of other significant individual accomplishments occurred over the weekend as Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero became Geneva's all-time leader in wins with 292, passing Hall of Fame Coach Cliff Aultman. And senior forward Jimmy Leichliter passed 1,000 career points on Friday night.
As far as the game went, Geneva started slowly, unable to hit much from long range. Down 20-17 eleven minutes into the game, the Golden Tornadoes got into a better rhythm offensively and closed the half on a 23-7 run to take a 40-27 lead into the halftime break. Sophomore Ethan Moose led the way in the first half with 11 points and 6 rebounds, while Leichliter added 8 points.
From there, Geneva pulled away in the second half. Coach Santarsiero was able to empty his bench. All 17 players on the roster got in, and 13 of them scored at least one basket. The final score was 87-48.
Junior Danny Torok led a balanced attack with 16 points, while Moose finished with 13, sophomore Noah Damazo added 11, and Leichliter chipped in with 10 points. Moose was selected as the MVP of the tournament after his strong showing on Friday and Saturday, while Leichliter was also chosen for the All-Tournament team.
"It's been a while since we started 2-0," Santarsiero noted. "The individual awards are great, but the most important thing from this weekend is we started with two wins. We shot the ball better today after a slow start, and our defense was excellent. And I was really happy to see some of our bench players get some extended time today. Those kids work hard every day in practice, so getting an opportunity to give them some playing time is important."
As far as passing Aultman in wins, Santarsiero was noticeably humble. "I'm not one for individual awards," he added. "It's humbling for sure, but I'm just happy for the program and the college. Coach Slocum was my mentor, and to have him here last night was really special. Now it's time to move our focus to the next game."
Geneva heads out onto the road next week with two road trips. The Golden Tornadoes play Allegheny College on Tuesday, November 21, at 8:00 p.m. They then head to Hiram College on Saturday, November 25, for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
