GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team has had a streaky second semester so far, but the Golden Tornadoes look like they may be peaking at just the right time after Geneva picked up its second road win of the week on Saturday afternoon, defeating Thiel 89-80.  In fact, it was Geneva's first road win at Thiel since 2009.  With the win, the Golden Tornadoes clinched the #5 seed in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) and improved to 12-13 overall, 8-8 in the PAC.  Thiel fell to 6-17, 5-11 in the PAC.

The game didn't start well for the Golden Tornadoes, with the Tomcats scoring the first seven points of the game over the first two minutes.  Sophomore Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach Fla./Highlands Academy) finally got Geneva on the board with a three-pointer, but the half continued to go poorly for the Golden Tornadoes.  Thiel extended its lead to 27-13, the biggest lead of the game for the Tomcats, just nine minutes into the first half. 

Sophomore Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) helped Geneva turn things around, though.  Luptak scored eight straight points, and senior Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem) followed with a layup to pull the Golden Tornadoes to within 27-23.  After a Thiel bucket, Geneva scored eight more unanswered points, making it an 18-2 run for the Golden Tornadoes.  That stretch gave Geneva its first lead of the game, 31-29, after two free throws by freshman Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) with 4:31 remaining.  Thiel would manage to tie the game a couple times in the closing minutes of the half, but the Tomcats never led again in the game.  Luptak hit two free throws with less than one second remaining in the half to give the Golden Tornadoes a 39-37 lead at the break.  Luptak had 13 points at the intermission.

Senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock), who had missed the previous two games with an injury, opened the final half with a bucket, and it sparked Geneva to a 9-0 stretch over the first three minutes of the second half, with junior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler County Community College) finishing the run with a three-pointer to give the Golden Tornadoes a 48-37 lead.

Thiel managed to close to within 61-57 with 10:53 remaining, but a three-pointer by junior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) kick-started a 14-5 run for the Golden Tornadoes, which was capped off by a three-point play by Moose, giving Geneva a 75-62 lead with 5:35 remaining.  From there it became a free throw shooting contest for Geneva, and the Golden Tornadoes made more than enough to hold off the Tomcats, 89-80, as Thiel never got closer than eight points the rest of the game.

Luptak finished with a career-high 21 points to lead six Golden Tornadoes in double figures.  Moose added 17 points in his return, along with eight rebounds.  Stutz finished with 12 points, Tipton and Veynovich 11 points, while Rusyn chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.  Geneva shot 47% from the floor, including an impressive 8-of-12 (67%) effort from three-point range, led by Veynovich's 3-of-4 performance.  Geneva also made 27-of-36 (75%) free throws in the game.  Thiel finished the game shooting 40% from the floor.

"It has been a long time since we won up here," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "It was good to have Ethan back, and we never panicked after we fell down early.  Credit goes to our seniors and our upperclassmen for that.  Amos was really good for us again today, especially his ability to get to the foul line.  We got important contributions from a lot of people today, though, and that bodes well for us heading into the playoffs next week.  We're excited for Tuesday and for the way we are playing right now.  I'm especially happy for our seniors, as this is the best we've finished in the conference in a long time."

Geneva will travel to W&J on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. matchup in the first round of the PAC playoffs.  The Golden Tornadoes split their two games with the Presidents earlier this season, with each team winning on their home floor.


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.