MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team went back and forth at Allegheny on Tuesday night, and regulation wasn't enough to decide a winner.  Unfortunately, a couple of miscues late in overtime by the Golden Tornadoes proved too costly to overcome, and Allegheny pulled out a thrilling 84-79 victory.  Allegheny improved to 5-1, while Geneva fell to 2-3.

The matchup pitted two seniors playing at the top of their games in Geneva's Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) and Allegheny's Jordan Rawls, and both players would prove huge for their teams.

Another senior, Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), score five early points for Geneva to give the Golden Tornadoes a 9-7 lead.  Geneva took its biggest lead of the game, 19-15, when junior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College) drained a three-pointer.  The next six minutes, though, proved to be a struggle for Geneva's offense, and Allegheny took advantage with a 13-1 run to take a 28-20 lead.  Two minutes later, the Gators extended their lead to 38-28, their biggest of the game.

A three-pointer from sophomore Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) cut into the Allegheny lead, and another Geneva three-pointer, this one from Damazo, pulled Geneva to within 39-36 at the halftime break.  Damazo finished the half with 11 points.

Moose opened the second half with back-to-back layups to regain the lead for Geneva, 40-39.  The rest of the half proved a tight affair, with Moose and Rawls helping keep the game close.  Allegheny was able to extend its lead to the biggest of the half, 59-53, with 7:22 remaining, but two quick three-pointers by junior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) sandwiched around a bucket from Rawls pulled Geneva back to within 61-59.  The Gators were still in the lead, 70-65, with a minute remaining when a basket from Moose pulled Geneva to within three.  After both teams had turnovers late, Stutz buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, tied at 70-70.

Rawls opened the extra frame with five straight points, but a three-pointer from Moose gave Geneva the lead back, 79-78, with 1:29 remaining.  On Allegheny's next possession, Rawls missed a shot but came up with an offensive rebound and converted two free throws to regain the lead for the Gators.  Moose missed another three-pointer on Geneva's next possession, and the Golden Tornadoes failed to get back on defense enabling Allegheny to convert an easy layup to extend the lead to 82-79.  Geneva turned the ball over on its next two possession, and the Golden Tornadoes were forced to foul with seven seconds remaining.  Allegheny missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Geneva failed to corral the rebound, and the Gators put the game away with two free throws to give Allegheny the 84-79 victory.

Moose led the offense with 25 points, while Damazo added 19 points.  Stutz added ten points, while freshman Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) gave Geneva a spark off the bench with ten points and nine rebounds.  Geneva shot just 34.9% from the floor.  Rawls finished with 30 points and 20 rebounds to lead Allegheny to the victory.

"I'm very proud of the way our guys battled so hard tonight," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We have been in every game this year and we still don't have our full roster due to injuries.  Our best is yet to come.  We will look to recover quickly from this tough result and are looking forward to playing Robert Morris tomorrow night.  We are going to make it the best experience we can."

Geneva heads to Division I Robert Morris tomorrow night for one last game before Thanksgiving, with the tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.  The Golden Tornadoes will return home this Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. game against Franciscan, making this a busy Thanksgiving week for Geneva.


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.