Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Geneva College Athletics

official home of the geneva college golden tornadoes
geneva college golden tornadoes
geneva college golden tornadoes
Jimmy 11
61
Geneva GEN 11-14, 7-11
86
Winner Waynesburg WAY 10-15, 6-12
Geneva GEN
11-14, 7-11
61
Final
86
Waynesburg WAY
10-15, 6-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Geneva GEN 33 28 61
Waynesburg WAY 37 49 86

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Geneva Struggles at Waynesburg

WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The Geneva men's basketball team entered its last regular season game on Saturday at Waynesburg knowing it had locked down the #6 seed in the conference, but wanting to play well to carry momentum into the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs starting next week.  Unfortunately, a bad second half allowed Waynesburg to run away with the game, defeating Geneva 86-61.  Geneva's record fell to 11-14 overall, 7-11 in the PAC, while Waynesburg improved to 10-15 overall, 6-12 in the PAC.

The game started well for Geneva, with senior Jimmy Leichliter scoring six early points, as the Golden Tornadoes jumped out to a 15-6 lead seven minutes into the game.  Waynesburg responded by going on a 16-6 run to take its first lead of the game, 22-21, with eight minutes remaining before halftime.  The game went back and forth from there until Waynesburg scored seven straight points late in the half to take a 37-33 lead at halftime.  Leichliter led the offense with eight points in the half.

Geneva lost control of the game early in the second half as the Golden Tornadoes substituted more freely.  Waynesburg opened the half on a 16-2 run to break the game open, 53-35, and Geneva could never regain the momentum.  At that point, Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero took the opportunity to rest his starters and play a number of younger players, knowing the game did not impact the playoff seeding for Geneva.  Waynesburg eventually stretched the lead out to as many as 30 points, 86-56, before closing the game out at 86-61.

"We went into this game knowing we could not drop in the seeding with a loss," Coach Santarsiero said.  "That being said, I was a little disappointed in our effort.  We have to refocus ourselves now for the playoffs.  We played without some people today and gave our freshman some valuable minutes.  Now it is on to the playoffs."

Leichliter finished the game a team-high 12 points, and he also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.  Junior Eric McGee added 10 points.  All told, eleven different Golden Tornadoes played at least nine minute, and 14 ended up logging minutes as Coach Santarsiero spread the playing time around.  Waynesburg was led by freshman Matt Popeck, who scored a career-high 33 points, including 8-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.

Geneva begins the conference playoffs on Tuesday as the Golden Tornadoes will be traveling to take on the #3 seed Saint Vincent at 7:00 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, 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. 
 
Print Friendly Version