Latrobe, PA – There are certain moments in every basketball game that can be pointed to as a potential turning point. On Saturday night, the turning point in the game between Geneva College and first-place Saint Vincent College came mid-way through the first half. The Bearcats ran off 11 straight points to erase a small Geneva lead which it would never get back. Saint Vincent held on in the second half for a comfortable 83-69 victory that moved the Bearcats to 14-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Golden Tornadoes fell for the second straight game and lost for the fifth time in six outings to drop to 6-9 overall and 3-4 in the PAC.
 
Both teams battled throughout the first ten minutes of the first stanza with Geneva leading by as many as three points. When R.J. Bell knocked down a three pointer at the 10:10 mark of the first half, the Golden Tornadoes took a 21-19 lead. It was at that point that Saint Vincent reeled off 11 straight points in the next two and a half minutes to quickly extend its lead to 30-21. By the end of the first half, Saint Vincent had opened up a 46-33 advantage.
 
Saint Vincent continued its momentum into the second half and took its biggest lead at 54-35 with 17:39 left to play. Geneva, however, still had one run left and when Noah Damazo made a pair of free throws at the 8:42 mark, the Golden Tornadoes had clawed back to within six points at 65-59. Geneva could never get any closer and Saint Vincent managed to extend its lead back again ultimately holding on for the 14 point victory.
 
"It takes 40 minutes to win," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "There may be some nights and may be some teams where we can make a few mistakes and get away with it. When you are playing at Saint Vincent against this kind of quality, making mistakes and allowing them to dictate the tempo will ultimately cost you in the end. We had a tough five minute stretch in the first half and were never able to recover."
 
Saint Vincent shot nearly 54% from the field in the first half in putting up 46 points in the first 20 minutes. Geneva's defense stiffened a bit in the second half, but the Bearcats finished the night shooting 47% from the field. The biggest disparity came from the foul line where Saint Vincent was 25-32, while Geneva was just 8-10 from the stripe. "We got in some early foul trouble with some of our key guys," said Santarsiero. "We were never able to get some of them in the flow of the game and as a result, we weren't consistent enough on offense."
 
Geneva's leading scorer Ethan Moose picked up two fouls in the first half and his minutes were significantly affected. Moose, who came into the game averaging over 14 points per game, finished with just four points on 1-7 shooting. Danny Torek came off the bench to lead Geneva with 14 points, including a 4-6 effort from beyond the arc. Eric McGee was Geneva's other double figure scorer with 12 points. The Bearcats featured a five man attack posting double figures led by 25 points from Tom Kromka on 9-14 shooting.
 
Geneva was also significantly outrebounded by a 46-30 margin on the night.
 
Geneva will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday night when it travels to Thiel College. The Golden Tornadoes return home next Saturday afternoon for a 3 pm tip-off against Bethany College.
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.