PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team overcame a 20-point first half deficit to a hot-shooting Valley Forge squad on Saturday afternoon, with the Golden Tornadoes battling all the way back to defeat the Patriots, 107-93.  It was the most points Geneva has scored in a game since 2006 when the Golden Tornadoes put up 124 points against Indiana-East.  With the victory, Geneva evened its record at 1-1, while Valley Forge fell to 2-2.

The matchup on Saturday represented another opportunity for the Golden Tornadoes to go up against former Geneva player DJ Damazo, who is the head coach at Valley Forge.  In particular, it gave senior Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) another game against his older brother, who he had not lost to yet in two prior matchups.

It was the Patriots who came out on fire, though.  Just over twenty seconds into the game, Valley Forge knocked down a three-pointer, and it was a sign of things to come.  The Golden Tornadoes hung around early, helped by two three-pointers from junior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College), and a layup from senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) evened the score at 14-14.

However, over the next six minutes, Valley Forge went on a 29-9 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 43-23, with 7:32 remaining in the half.  The Patriots made nine of their first eleven three-pointers, including six straight over Valley Forge's big run.  Geneva was able to battle back, though, closing to with 50-38 with three minutes remaining.  The Golden Tornadoes then finished the half on a 15-2 run to take a 53-52 lead into halftime after Damazo scored with one second remaining, completely erasing the big Valley Forge lead.

Geneva stretched its lead to 61-54 just over two minutes into the second half after Damazo converted a three-point play, giving him 20 points early in the second half.  The game stayed tight, though, with Valley Forge battling back to take a 75-73 lead with 9:52 remaining.  Geneva responded with seven straight points, helped by another Stutz three-pointer, to regain the lead 80-75, and the Golden Tornadoes would never trail again.

However, the Patriots continued to stay close, cutting Geneva's lead to 94-92 with 3:42 remaining.  It was all Geneva from that point, though.  The Golden Tornadoes finished the game on a 13-1 run to pull away late for the 107-93 victory.

Moose narrowly missed his first career triple-double, finishing with 27 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists.  Damazo finished with a career-high 24 points on an impressive 9-of-12 effort from the floor, while also adding nine rebounds.  Stutz knocked down five three-pointers on his way to 17 points, while RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) added 13 points and freshman Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian Academy) chipped in with 10 points. 

Geneva finished the game shooting 37-of-65 (56.9%) from the floor, including 10-of-19 (52.6%) from three-point range.  The Golden Tornadoes outrebounded the Patriots 33-27.  Valley Forge finished the game making an even better percentage from deep than Geneva, making 14-of-23 (60.9%) shots from three-point range.

"What a great, gutsy win for our program," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We just never quit believing in the process and each other, and we pulled it out at the end.  Valley Forge is different from most teams we play as they average over 100 points per game.  Ethan and Noah played great and our freshmen gave us some really good minutes as well.  RJ also gave us a big lift off the bench today."

Geneva will return to the court next weekend when the Golden Tornadoes host the Coaches vs Cancer Tournament.  Geneva will play Capital on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and La Roche on Saturday 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 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.