PITTSBURGH, Pa. – In what feels like a pattern recently for the Geneva College men's basketball team, the Golden Tornadoes played well for a half at Chatham on Saturday but couldn't finish things off in the second half, falling 75-71 to the Cougars for their fifth straight loss.  Chatham improved to 15-8, 9-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 8-15, 5-9 in the PAC.

Geneva played well early.  Five minutes into the game, a jumper from junior Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) gave Geneva a 10-5 lead.  Three minutes later, junior Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) hit a jumper to push Geneva's lead to 15-7.  Chatham scored six straight points to close within two, but Geneva answered with another jumper from Rusyn and a dunk from senior David Oliver (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) to stay up 19-13.  The Cougars would eventually close to with 23-22 with 3:30 remaining, but a 3-pointer from sophomore R.J. Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) enabled Geneva to close the half well, taking a 33-26 lead into the break.

Chatham quickly trimmed the lead to one, 33-32, before Geneva could get on the scoreboard in the second half.  Three minutes later, Chatham regained the lead, 38-37.  The Golden Tornadoes answered back, though, and a jumper from Eric McGee (Tampa, Fl./Seffner Christian) put Geneva up 46-43 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

The game would go back and forth over the next five minutes, but Geneva still led, 54-51, after a jumper from junior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) with seven minutes remaining.  At that point Chatham hit four straight 3-pointers over the next two minutes to take a 63-57 lead with five minutes to go, and Geneva could never recover.  A 3-pointer from Moose with six seconds remaining did get Geneva to within one point, 71-70, but Chatham was able to hold on for the 75-71 win.

"This was another tough loss," said a frustrated Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We played well in the first half, but we gave up way too many 3-pointers in the second half and couldn't get the stops when we needed them."

Moose led the offense with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks.  Rusyn added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Damazo added 12 points before fouling out late.  Chatham came into the game as the best 3-point shooting team in the PAC, and the Cougars hit 12-of-30 shots from long range, including 9-of-20 in the second half.  Isaiah Brown scored a game-high 21 points to lead Chatham.

Geneva still sits in good position to make the PAC playoffs, but its path will have to be on the road with the recent stretch of losses.  The Golden Tornadoes finish their regular season this upcoming week with home games against Saint Vincent on Wednesday and Thiel on Saturday, which will be Geneva's Senior Day.  Both games start at 7:30 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 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.