BETHANY, W.Va. – It wasn't easy, but the Geneva College men's basketball team made the plays it needed to late to pick up an important road win in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) at Bethany on Saturday afternoon, 72-64.  Despite leading by double digits at halftime, the Golden Tornadoes lost the lead in the second half, but Geneva regrouped and proved to be the better team down the stretch, earning its third-straight victory of the season.  Geneva improved to 8-10 overall, 4-5 in the PAC, while Bethany fell to 2-16, 1-8 in the PAC.

Senior Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem), who came into the game playing the best basketball of his career, opened the scoring with back-to-back baskets, followed by a layup by senior Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk).  Bethany got on the board with a bucket, but another layup by Rusyn followed by back-to-back baskets by senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) gave the Golden Tornadoes a 12-2 lead just over six minutes into the game.

Bethany would answer back with a run, pulling within 16-14 at the ten-minute mark of the first half, and the Bison pulled within one, 21-20, with eight minutes remaining.  However, Geneva responded with twelve straight points.  Moose started things with a layup, followed by six straight from Damazo, including four free throws, and Moose and Rusyn finished the run with back-to-back layups, giving Geneva a 33-20 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes ended the half ahead 35-25, with Damazo, Moose and Rusyn each finishing with eight points.

Geneva maintained that lead early in the second half, and a jumper by Rusyn three minutes in pushed the Golden Tornadoes' lead to 42-29.  Bethany slowly began to chip away at its deficit, though, and with eight minutes remaining, the Bison had closed to 55-48.  Over the next three minutes, Bethany went on a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 60-57, with 4:56 remaining, and the momentum appeared to be wearing Bethany green.

However, Moose got Geneva going again, making a driving layup to cut the lead to one.  Sophomore Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) followed by making 3-of-4 free throws over Geneva's next two possession, regaining the lead for Geneva.  Bethany would tie the game one final time with 2:52 remaining, but on the following possession Luptak made a driving layup while being fouled, and he converted the three-point play to give Geneva a 66-63 lead, a lead the Golden Tornadoes would not relinquish.  On Geneva's next possession, Rusyn grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home, and the Golden Tornadoes made their free throws down the stretch to pull out a 72-64 victory.

Moose led the offense with 20 points, while also grabbing seven rebounds.  Damazo and Rusyn each added 12 points, while Luptak finished with 10 points.  Rusyn added a career-high 16 rebounds along with three blocks.  Geneva outrebounded Bethany on the afternoon, 40-27.  Khalil Wilson led three Bison in double figures with 16 points.

"Our guys really grinded out a great road win today," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "Nick continues to play at really high level for us.  Ethan was good as well, and Amos really came through tonight, especially late.  Today was his best performance since joining us.  This group really battles, and we're already looking forward to Wednesday."

Geneva will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts W&J 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 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.