WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Geneva College men's basketball team will head back from sunny Florida with a victory under its belt.  Less than a day after suffering a heart-breaking two-point loss in the opening day of the West Palm Beach Tournament, a short-handed Geneva squad held on for a 58-53 victory over Goucher on Saturday afternoon.  The Golden Tornadoes improved to 5-6, with the tournament completing the non-conference portion of Geneva's schedule.

Geneva entered Saturday's game without senior starters Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) who were nursing injuries from Friday's game, which forced Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero to dive deeper into his bench for the game.

Sophomore Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy), playing in his home state this weekend for the first time in college, was moved into the starting lineup, and he continued his strong tournament by opening with back-to-back three-pointers to give Geneva an early 6-2 lead.  Goucher answered with an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 10-8. 

Veynovich responded with another three-pointer to regain the lead for the Golden Tornadoes.  A three-pointer from junior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) gave Geneva a 21-16 lead, but Goucher scored ten straight points to take a 26-21 lead.  However, the Golden Tornadoes answered back with 13 straight points, eventually taking a 34-28 lead into the halftime break.  Veynovich led the team with 12 points on four three-pointers, while senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) added 11 points.

Neither team could gain much momentum in the second half, with the Geneva lead staying primarily between three to seven points.  Goucher pulled to within 43-41 with 11:05 remaining, but Geneva answered with seven straight points to take its biggest lead of the game, 50-41.  The Golden Tornadoes still held a 54-47 lead with just over two minutes remaining before Goucher made one last push.  Geneva struggled to put the game away late, hitting only 1-of-4 free throws over a two-minute stretch, including missing the front ends of two one-and-one free throws situations.  Goucher took advantage and cut the lead to 56-53 and had the ball in the closing seconds, but the Gophers' three-point attempt with two seconds remaining fell short, and Moose closed out the victory with two free throws to give Geneva the 58-53 win.

"I'm really proud of our effort today considering how short-handed we were," said Santarsiero.  "We were missing two key starters and battled foul trouble for much of the game, but some guys off our bench really stepped up and gave us some key minutes, so a number of people played a part in this win.  These guys will get some much-needed rest over the next several days, and then we'll return back in a week and get ready to resume conference play in January."

Moose led the offense again with 16 points, and he was named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of the day's games.  Veynovich wasn't far behind with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range, finishing off his best two days as a Golden Tornado with a strong showing at the tournament.  Bell and sophomore Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) each added 10 points.  Geneva shot just 36% from the floor and made just 11-of-21 (52%) from the free throw line, but the Golden Tornadoes made seven three-pointers and committed just six turnovers to help Geneva pull out the win.

Geneva will get some time off now for Christmas break before resuming play on Saturday, January 4, when the Golden Tornadoes host Waynesburg 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.