BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – If the Geneva College men's basketball team is going to move into the upper echelon of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) this season, as was predicted in the PAC preseason poll, protecting its home court is essential, and the Golden Tornadoes were unable to do so on Saturday afternoon against Washington & Jefferson.  The Presidents came into Metheny Fieldhouse and led for most of the game, holding off Geneva late for a 67-63 win.  W&J improved to 3-5, 1-1 in the PAC, while Geneva fell to 3-4, 1-1 in the PAC.

The game represented an opportunity for Geneva to get off to a great start in the conference.  After defeating Bethany on the road on Wednesday, Geneva's next three conference games were all against teams predicted to finish in the middle to bottom half of the league, and all were at home, starting with W&J.  Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

W&J got off to a great start right out of the gate, hitting five of its first six 3-point shots in jumping out to a 16-6 lead as Geneva failed to get out to the Presidents' outside shooters.  From there Geneva settled in defensively and slowly began to chip away at the lead.  Despite struggling offensively and shooting just 28% from the floor in the half, Geneva locked down defensively and managed to pull itself within 30-29 at the halftime break.  No one for Geneva had more than five points in the half.

Geneva had its best stretch of the afternoon early in the second half, taking its biggest lead of the day 36-32, as junior Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) scored five early points, punctuated by a dunk, to seemingly give Geneva some momentum.  It didn't last long, though, as W&J quickly tied the game back up, 38-38.  Three minutes later, with Geneva leading 46-45, the Presidents went on a 9-1 run to take a 54-47 lead with eight minutes remaining.  The Golden Tornadoes answered by with seven straight points to tie the game at 54-54 on a jumper from senior Eric McGee (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) with just under five minutes remaining. 

However, as W&J had done all afternoon, the Presidents responded again, this time with seven straight of its own, putting Geneva down 61-54 with three minutes remaining.  The Golden Tornadoes were able to rally one last time, and when McGee hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining, Geneva had tied the game at 63-63.  W&J's Primo Zini, who had been a problem defensively for Geneva all second half, came up big again for the Presidents by driving the lane and scoring with 15 seconds to go.  Geneva called a timeout and got an open look for McGee from 3-point range, but his shot hit off the back iron and W&J made its free throws to seal the win, 67-63.

"We continue to let games slip away," a frustrated Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero said after the game.  "This group needs to decide how they want to finish the first semester.  We have all the pieces of the puzzle to make this a successful season, but right now they are just scattered all over."

McGee led the offense with 17 points, while Rusyn and senior David Oliver (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) each added 10 points.  Geneva shot just 32% from the floor, and 3-point shooting continues to be an issue for the Golden Tornadoes as they made just 5-of-21 (24%) from deep, which puts its season average from long range at just 26%.  W&J shot 42% from the floor, led by Cameron Seemann's game-high 23 points.

Geneva won't be back on the floor until next Saturday when it hosts Waynesburg at 7:30 p.m.  The Golden Tornadoes will be retiring the jersey of Lucas Marsh before the game, Geneva's third all-time leading scorer.


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, fully online Adult Degree Programs, 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.