BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team used a combination of hot-shooting from senior Danny Torok (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) in the first half, and a big second half from junior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) to lead the Golden Tornadoes to a win over Hiram on Saturday afternoon, 77-71.  Geneva improved to 5-4, while Hiram fell to 4-5.

Geneva scored the first five points of the game on a jumper from Moose and a 3-pointer from Torok.  Hiram tied the game up at 8-8, and the Terriers took their first lead, 16-15, three minutes later.  Hiram then took its biggest lead of the game, 21-17.  Junior Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) responded with a 3-pointer, and another bucket from Damazo a minute later tied the score at 23-23.

Trailing 30-29 with eight minutes remaining in the half, Torok scored eight straight on a jumper and two 3-pointers to push Geneva back ahead, 37-30.  Geneva maintained that lead going into the halftime break when senior Eric McGee (Tampa, FL/Seffner Christian) hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Golden Tornadoes a 49-43 lead.  Torok scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, while Moose and McGee added 12 points apiece.

Geneva took its biggest lead of the game early in the second half, 54-46, on the strength of five quick points from Moose, including his first 3-pointer of the season.  Hiram immediately closed the score to within 54-53, and over the next eight minutes Geneva managed to hold a slim lead of between one and five points.  When Hiram's Christian Crespo hit a jumper with six minutes remaining, it gave the Terriers a 66-65 lead. 

Moose converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give Geneva the lead back for good with five minutes remaining, 71-69.  Geneva scored four more points to go up, 75-69, with just under three minutes remaining, and despite some missed free throws late, the Golden Tornadoes were able to lock down defensively and hold on for the 77-71 win.

"This was a great win today and a really good way to close out the semester," Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero said afterwards.  "I feel like we've practiced well and played well the last two weeks, and when we move the ball offensively and rotate it, we are a pretty good team.  Defensively, we only gave up two points in the last five minutes, so we won this game late with our defense. 

"It was also great to see Danny have a good shooting game, and he really got us started offensively.  When he's making shots we're a different team, and he's really put in the work lately to get back on track.  Now we get a little time off to get rested up before conference play gets into full gear next semester."

Moose finished with a game-high 26 points along with 11 rebounds.  Torok finished with 16 points, while McGee scored 12.  Geneva shot 43% from the floor, including its best day from 3-point range this season, 7-of-14.  The Golden Tornadoes also outrebounded Hiram, 49-37, including 16 offensive rebounds.  Sherman Dean III led Hiram with 19 points.

Geneva will head into the Christmas break on a winning streak and with a little momentum.  It heads to Defiance College for a Christmas tournament on December 28 and 29, before coming home on Thursday, January 3, for a game against rival Grove City at 7:30 p.m.


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.