GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team fell down by double digits early at Thiel College on Wednesday night, and the early deficit was too much to overcome as the Golden Tornadoes fell, 74-66.  Thiel improved to 6-11, 4-4 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 6-10, 3-5 in the PAC.
 
Leading 6-4 early on, Thiel went on a 13-5 run to take its first double digit lead of the game, 19-9.  Thiel proved especially effective from 3-point range, using the long range shot to build its lead throughout the first half.  Geneva closed the gap to 21-16 midway through the half, but after Thiel made it sixth 3-pointer of the half, on just eight attempts, Thiel stretched its lead to 33-20.  Meanwhile, Geneva struggled to get anything going offensively against an athletic and physical Tomcats team.  Another 3-pointer from Thiel with two minutes remaining in the half gave the Tomcats a 43-24 lead before Thiel took a 45-28 lead to the break.
 
Thiel opened the second half with another 3-pointer, and over the next nine minutes the Tomcats held a big lead over the Golden Tornadoes.  Thiel was ahead 64-43 with just over ten minutes remaining when Geneva put together a strong closing stretch, cutting the Tomcat lead under double digits for the first time since early in the first half, 70-61, after senior Eric McGee (Tampa, Fl./Seffner Christian) made a layup.  The Golden Tornadoes would get to as close as 71-66 after two free throws from junior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) with two minutes remaining, but Geneva could not finish off the comeback as Thiel held on for the 74-66 victory.

"This is just how our season is going right now," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We are not shooting the ball well but we manage to stay in games.  We just can't finish them.  We need to get better in a hurry."
 
Moose led the offense with 17 points, most of them coming from the free throw line as he finished 11-of-14 from the stripe.  Senior David Oliver (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) added 13 points, while McGee finished with 10.  Daquan Simmons led Thiel with a game-high 20 points.
 
Geneva returns to Metheny Fieldhouse on Saturday to take on Bethany College at 3:00 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, 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.