Beaver Falls, PA—On Saturday afternoon the Geneva College men's basketball team welcomed the preseason conference favorite Saint Vincent Bearcats to Metheny Fieldhouse, and the Golden Tornadoes played the Bearcats tough the whole game before Saint Vincent pulled away late for a 62-56 victory. The loss dropped Geneva to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Saint Vincent improved to 6-2 overall, 3-1 in the PAC.
Geneva put together one of its best defensive halves of the season in the first half as they stifled the second best offense in the PAC. Geneva led by as many as seven in the half, 24-17, but Saint Vincent finished the half on a 10-4 run to close within 28-27 going into halftime. Sophomore Ethan Moose led the offense with 11 points in the half.
The second half went back and forth as neither team took more than a five-point lead for the first 19 minutes of the half. The key possession occurred late in the game with Saint Vincent ahead 57-54 when Geneva gave up two offensive rebounds, eventually allowing the Bearcats to increase their lead to a two possession game, and Geneva could never recover from there, losing 62-56.
"Saint Vincent is always a very physical game, and today's game was no exception," Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero commented. "We played so hard defensively, to give up back to back offensive rebounds late in the game with the game on the line was really tough. We've got to be able to come up with those rebounds. But to battle all game against maybe the best team in the conference, on a night where we struggled shooting the ball, was a positive."
Geneva was led offensively by Moose, who had another double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Matt Dragan gave the team a big boost off the bench with 10 points on an afternoon where Geneva battled foul trouble all game. Second leading scorer Jimmy Leichliter was held to just six points in 23 foul-plagued minutes, while sophomores Nick Rusyn and Noah Damazo both ended up fouling out. Geneva shot just 37% for the game, including 3-19 from 3-point range.
Geneva takes a break off for finals this coming week and won't return to action until after the Christmas holiday when it travels south to take part in the Oglethorpe University Tourney in Atlanta, GA. The Golden Tornadoes play Manchester (Indiana) University on Friday, December 29, at 7:30 p.m. They play again the next day, December 30, against a to-be-determined opponent.
