BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – A short-handed Geneva College men's basketball team struggled in its season-opener on Monday evening at home against Kenyon, falling behind by double-digits midway through the second half, and despite a late comeback, the Golden Tornadoes eventually fell, 65-61. Kenyon moved to 1-0 on the season, while Geneva fell to 0-1.
The Golden Tornadoes came into the opening game of the season missing senior starting center
Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) along with key reserve guard
Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy), who were both out due to illness. In addition, Geneva's potential starting point guard, sophomore
Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley), won't join the team until football finishes, where he is the starting quarterback.
With the shortened bench, Head Coach
Jeff Santarsiero knew things might be a struggle at times against Kenyon, and it certainly proved to be that way after a fast start. Geneva jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead after senior
Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and junior
Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler) hit early three-pointers. Damazo hit his second three-pointer of the half to give Geneva a 15-9 lead six minutes into the game, but the offense struggled the rest of the half.
Kenyon scored 12 straight points to take a 21-15 lead as Geneva went scoreless for over four minutes. The Golden Tornadoes eventually cut the deficit to 32-28 on a short jumper from Damazo with just under two minutes left in the half, but Kenyon closed with seven straight points to take a 39-28 lead into the break. Included in that run was a three-pointer Kenyon's Ugnius Zilinskas hit at the buzzer on an out-of-bounds play from near midcourt with 0.7 seconds remaining, and that three-pointer would prove to a huge factor at the end.
Geneva's offensive struggles continued into the second half, and with 15 minutes remaining, Kenyon took its biggest lead of the game, 46-33. The short-handed Golden Tornadoes refused to go away quietly, though. Another Damazo three-pointer ignited the offense back to life, and over the next 11 minutes, Geneva went on a 24-10 run to retake the lead, 57-56, with 3:28 remaining.
Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes could not hold onto the lead. After picking up another defensive stop, Geneva had a chance to extend its lead with 2:30 remaining, but a missed shot led to a fast-break for Kenyon that resulted in a layup and a foul, and the Golden Tornadoes would never lead again. Senior
Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) did tie the game back up at 61-61 with a driving layup with 1:13 remaining, but those were the last points the Golden Tornadoes scored. Geneva had a chance to win it at the end, but with the Golden Tornadoes trailing 63-61, Damazo's three-pointer with two seconds remaining bounced off the rim, and Kenyon converted two free throws at the end to seal the victory, 65-61.
"We battled, but we were pretty under-manned tonight" said Coach Santarsiero. "We had a pretty short bench, and guys played more minutes than they were used to. I was proud of our effort tonight in coming all the way back, but we've got to be able to finish games. Our Achilles heel was our free throw shooting, and we've got to get that figured out quickly before we move on to Valley Forge."
Damazo led the offense with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Moose finished with a double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds. Junior
AJ Stroop (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburg-Clay) also reached double figures with 11 points. A big difference in the game was Geneva's effort at the free throw line, where the Golden Tornadoes shot just 7-17 (41%). In comparison, Kenyon finished 14-19 from the stripe. Zilinskas led Kenyon with a game-high 20 points.
Geneva heads to Valley Forge on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. start. Valley Forge is coached by former Geneva player DJ Damazo, who is
Noah Damazo's older brother.
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 115 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 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.
