BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – This wasn't how the Geneva College men's basketball team envisioned its Senior Day going.  Playing without senior leading-scorers Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) and Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), who both missed the game due to recent injuries, the Golden Tornadoes battled second-place Chatham on Saturday for a half, but the Cougars got hot from three-point range in the second half to pull away for a 90-73 victory.  Chatham improved to 15-9, 9-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 10-13, 6-8 in the PAC.

The game represented the last home regular season game for seniors Damazo, Moose, Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) and Matthew Partridge (Sandy Lake, Pa./Lakeview).  Without Damazo and Moose in the lineup, the Golden Tornadoes knew they would have a challenge to contain a Chatham team that came in as the best three-point shooting team in the conference.

Chatham jumped out to an early 12-8 lead five minutes in before the Golden Tornadoes reeled off 11 straight points to take their biggest lead of the night, 19-12.  Rusyn had six points early on, while freshmen Isaac Massie (Crosslanes, W.Va./Homeschool) and Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) combined for 11 points.

However, Chatham answered with a 23-9 run to take a 35-28 lead with 3:14 remaining in the half, with the Cougars beginning to find the range from deep.  Geneva finished the half, though, on a 10-3 run, with Rusyn knocking down two free throws with two seconds remaining to pull the Golden Tornadoes to within 40-38 at the break.

Geneva opened the second half with a burst, as Tipton scored five points and junior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler County Community College) knocked down a three-pointer to give Geneva a 46-43 lead.  Unfortunately, it would prove to be the Golden Tornadoes' last lead of the game.  Chatham knocked down four three-pointers over its next four possessions to take a 55-48 lead.  Junior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) continued his recent hot shooting from outside, and he did his best to keep Geneva in it with three three-pointers over the next three minutes, but Chatham continued to make shots.  In fact, Chatham made 8-of-9 three-pointers to open the second half on its way to a 10-of-16 effort in the final period, and Geneva could never find an answer down the stretch to the Cougars' long-range prowess, and Chatham eventually pulled away for a 90-73 win.

Rusyn led four Golden Tornadoes in double figures with 16 points, while also grabbing nine rebounds.  Bell finished with 15 points, including 4-of-7 from long range, sophomore Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) added 14 points, and Tipton finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.  Geneva shot just 39% from the flooring, including 6-of-23 (26%) from three-point range.  Chatham, on the other hand, shot 52% from the floor, including 16-of-29 (55%) from deep.  Chatham's Malik Potter led the Cougars with 24 points, including 6-of-9 from three-point range.

"This is obviously a very disappointing result," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We were obviously undermanned today, but I thought we put together a very solid first half.  Unfortunately, in the second half we didn't do what we were supposed to do, and we did a poor job of finding their shooters.  We lost this game on the defensive end, and you can't let Chatham get that many looks from the perimeter.  I'm disappointed for our seniors, especially Ethan and Noah who didn't even get a chance to suit up, but hopefully we'll get those guys back soon as we finish out the regular season next week."

Geneva closes its regular season with two road games next week, beginning on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Saint Vincent.  The Golden Tornadoes finish their regular season with a game at Thiel next Saturday, with a 3:00 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 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. 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.