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Geneva College Athletics

official home of the geneva college golden tornadoes
geneva college golden tornadoes
geneva college golden tornadoes
MBB
80
Winner Bethany BET 9-9, 9-2
66
Geneva GEN 9-9, 5-6
Winner
Bethany BET
9-9, 9-2
80
Final
66
Geneva GEN
9-9, 5-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Bethany BET 35 45 80
Geneva GEN 38 28 66

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Winning Streak Ends at Five

Beaver Falls, PA—If Geneva had been told ahead of time that Bethany guard Calique Jones, the leading scorer in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) at just under 20 points per game, would finish the game with a season low two points on 1-11 shooting, the Golden Tornadoes would have loved their chances.  Unfortunately, Geneva had no answers for Bethany forwards Chaice Truex and Liam Davis, who finished with 26 and 23 points respectively on a combined 20-29 shooting, and Geneva's five game winning streak ended on Wednesday night to the Bethany Bison, 80-66.  Geneva's record fell to 9-9 overall, 5-6 in the PAC, while Bethany won its sixth straight game to improve to 9-9 overall, 9-2 in the PAC.

The first half proved to be an even affair, as both teams battled back and forth.  Geneva took its biggest lead of the first half, and the game, on a layup from sophomore Ethan Moose to put the Golden Tornadoes up 19-13 midway through the first half.  Bethany answered with a 10-1 run to take a 23-20 lead.  Geneva responded with a 10-2 run of its own to go back up 30-25 before settling on a 38-35 halftime lead.  Sophomore Noah Damazo led the offense in the first half with ten points, while sophomore Nick Rusyn added eight points.

The turning point came early in the second half when both of Geneva's leading scorers, Moose and senior Jimmy Leichliter, picked up their third fouls, forcing them to the bench.  Tied at 45-45, Bethany went on a 13-2 run to go up 58-47.  Geneva cut the lead to four points on multiple occasions later on, the final time being on a Leichliter layup with 4:30 remaining to close to within 66-62.  Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes could not get any closer than that as they had no answers for either Truex or Davis on this night, and Bethany pulled away late for the 80-66 victory.

"I think the better team won tonight," Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero said afterwards.  "They're very athletic, and we let them dictate to us.  We got into a little bit of foul trouble, but against good teams like that, you've got to play very well to win, and we just didn't.  Their bigs had great games, so you have to give them credit.  But we'll go back to work tomorrow and get ready for Saint Vincent on Saturday."

Geneva was led by Damazo who finished with a season high 14 points on 5-8 shooting, 2-2 from 3-point range.  Moose added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Leichliter scored 12 points, but he struggled all night from long range, going just 1-10 from deep.  Geneva shot just 36% from the floor in the second half, while Bethany ended up shooting 55% in the deciding half to allow it to pull away for the victory.

Geneva heads to Saint Vincent on Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.  The Golden Tornadoes will return home next Wednesday, January 31, for a 7:30 p.m. start against Thiel.


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and classroom options, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.
 
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