GROVE CITY, Pa. -- A poor start to the game for the Geneva men's basketball team at Grove City on Wednesday evening proved too much to overcome for the Golden Tornadoes, with the Wolverines holding off Geneva for a 76-67 victory.  Grove City improved to 5-7 overall, 3-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 5-8, 1-3 in the PAC.

Things did not start well for Geneva.  Grove City scored the first ten points of the game as the Golden Tornadoes couldn't find a basket in the first three minutes.  Senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) finally got Geneva on the board to break the Wolverines' game-opening run.  Moose's bucket gave the Golden Tornadoes a brief spark, with Geneva cutting the Grove City lead down to 11-8.  However, the Wolverines scored seven straight to push the lead back to ten points, 18-8, and Geneva never got closer than seven points the rest of the half.  Grove City took a 36-27 lead into the halftime break.

Grove City opened the second half with a three-pointer to move its lead to a game-high 12 points before the Golden Tornadoes put together a rally.  Led by freshman Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian), Geneva put together its best stretch of the game, outscoring Grove City 19-8 over the next six minutes, pulling to within one point, 47-46, with just over thirteen minutes remaining.  Unfortunately, Geneva could never take the lead.  Another basket from Tipton closed the gap to 52-51 with ten minutes left, but a 13-4 run by Grove City would extend its lead back to double digits, 66-56.  Geneva had one last run, and after Tipton hit four straight free throws, the Golden Tornadoes got to within 66-63 with three minutes remaining, but Grove City pulled away down the stretch and held on for a 76-67 victory.

"I thought the guys battled hard, but we need to be tougher on the defensive end," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "If we take care of our defensive intensity, we could be a factor in this conference.  I thought Lyle played a really great game."

Tipton led the offense with a career-high 22 points, while also grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds, the first double-double of his career.  Moose added 17 points and eight rebounds, while seniors Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) each finished in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.  Geneva was hurt on the boards, getting outrebounded 52-39 while also shooting just 2-of-17 (12%) from three-point range.  Justice Rice answered Tipton's total with 22 points of his own to lead Grove City.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for Geneva as the Golden Tornadoes return home for a game against Westminster on Saturday 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.