BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – On Saturday night the Geneva College men's basketball team said goodbye to its four seniors, and the Golden Tornadoes found a way to grind out a win in a low-scoring affair over Thiel, 52-41, in the final regular season game of the season.  With the victory, Geneva broke its six-game losing streak and improved to 9-16, 6-10 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).  Thiel fell to 7-18, 5-11 in the PAC.

Both teams struggled offensively for most of the night.  It wasn't until 2:30 into the game that Thiel cracked the scoreboard with a bucket, but senior David Oliver (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) answered a minute later with a 3-pointer to give Geneva its first lead.  Tied at 10-10 with just over ten minutes remaining in the half, the Golden Tornadoes put together their best stretch of the half by scoring seven straight points in just over a minute to go up 17-10.  Sophomore Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) converted a three-point play, and senior Eric McGee (Tampa, Fl./Seffner Christian) and Oliver also added baskets in the run.

However, Geneva failed to score over the next five minutes, and after a Geneva free throw, Thiel retook the lead at 19-18 with two minutes remaining before half.  It seemed only fitting that the two teams eventually headed into the break tied at 20-20.  Oliver had seven points in the half, with much of Geneva's offensive struggles being self-inflicted with 16 first half turnovers.

The halftime break didn't help either team offensively, though.  Thiel took its biggest lead of the game, 27-24, with 14 minutes remaining, but McGee responded with a 3-pointer to tie things back up.  Geneva went on a small run a couple minutes later, with back-to-back buckets from senior Matt Dragan (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and junior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) giving Geneva a 32-27 lead.

Thiel responded with a run of its own, taking the lead back, 35-34, with seven minutes remaining.  That's when Damazo hit back-to-back 3-pointers, just 15 seconds apart, to finally give Geneva some momentum in front of a large crowd.  From there the Golden Tornadoes never let the Tomcats back into the game, extending their lead to 48-37 on two free throws from Damazo with just under a minute remaining, and Geneva finished things off for the 52-41 win.

"Sometimes you just have to get one of those grind-it-out wins," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "It wasn't the prettiest basketball by any means, but I thought we played very well defensively.  We struggled offensively, but Noah got hot a little bit late, and Eric and David hit some big shots as well.  It's a new season now, and we're looking forward to taking on Grove City."

Damazo led the offense with 15 points, the sixth time in seven games he has reached double figures.  The seniors all chipped in, with Oliver scoring 12, McGee eight, and Dragan and Danny Torok (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) each adding a bucket.  Junior Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) grabbed 10 rebounds, while Dragan and Moose each snagged eight.  Geneva shot 42%, but 25 turnovers made it hard to get any offensive rhythm.  The Golden Tornadoes won things on the defensive end, holding Thiel to just 27% shooting and outrebounding the Tomcats 43-35.  Terrance Holloway scored a game-high 21 points to lead Thiel.

Geneva finishes the regular season as the #7 seed heading into the PAC Playoffs, which means the Golden Tornadoes will head to #2 seed Grove City on Tuesday night for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.


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.