GROVE CITY, Pa. – The past two weeks represented one of the most exciting runs for the Geneva men's basketball team in recent memory.  Unfortunately, the exhilarating run came to an end on Saturday night in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship game against a hot-shooting, top-seeded Grove City squad.  The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead, creating a big of a hole for the fifth-seeded Golden Tornadoes to climb out of, and despite a second-half push, Geneva eventually succumbed, 86-70.  The Golden Tornadoes finish their season with a 14-14 record, while Grove City improved to 20-8 and will receive the PAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Golden Tornadoes entered Saturday night riding a four-game winning streak, with all four victories coming on the road.  Geneva finished the regular season with two resounding wins at Saint Vincent and Thiel, two of the toughest places to play in the PAC, and the Golden Tornadoes went on the road in the PAC playoffs and defeated fourth-seeded W&J and second-seeded Chatham earlier this week.  It was the first time Geneva had ever advanced to the PAC Championship game. That momentum created an electric atmosphere on Saturday night inside Grove City College Arena, where a large contingent of Geneva fans and students traveled for the championship game.

Grove City scored the first four points of the game before junior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler County Community College) drained a three-pointer to get Geneva on the board.  The Wolverines continued to stay hot, though, scoring on seemingly every possession early.  Despite that, the Golden Tornadoes managed to stay within striking distance, and when senior Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) scored almost ten minutes in, Geneva pulled to within 23-20.

However, the Golden Tornadoes went cold offensively over the next three minutes, and Grove City built its lead to 32-22, the biggest of the game so far to that point.  A three-pointer from junior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) pulled Geneva to within 32-25 with 6:39 remaining in the half, but the Wolverines continued to make shots, scoring 11 straight points to take their biggest lead of the game, 43-25, with just over three minutes remaining.  In total, it was a Grove City 20-5 run over a seven-minute stretch.  Geneva answered with a 10-2 run, though, and another Stutz three-pointer pulled the Golden Tornadoes within 45-35 with a minute left.  However, a three-pointer from Grove City's Nate Peters in the final minute gave the Wolverines a 48-35 lead at the break.  Peters had 11 points at the halftime break and proved to be a thorn in the side of Geneva all night.  Moose led Geneva with 12 points at the half.

Geneva put together its best stretch of the evening early in the second half, pulling the Golden Tornadoes within striking distance.  With Grove City leading 56-41, a three-pointer from sophomore Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) began a two-minute stretch of four straight three-pointers by the Golden Tornadoes.  Bell drained a three-pointer after Veynovich, then Stutz, and Veynovich ended the run by draining a three-pointer while being fouled.  Veynovich missed the free throw, but the run pulled Geneva to with 56-53 with 14:02 left in the game.   Four minutes later, a layup from Moose cut the Wolverine lead down to 60-59, the closest the score had been since the opening tip.

Unfortunately, that was as close as Geneva would get.  Grove City responded with seven straight points to extend its lead to 67-59 with eight minutes remaining, and the Golden Tornadoes just couldn't get stops down the stretch.  Two free throws from Moose with 6:23 left pulled Geneva to within 69-65, but it wasn't enough against the Wolverines on this night.  Another three-pointer by Bell with 4:35 left made it 73-68, but a key moment occurred a few seconds later when senior center Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio/Salem), Geneva's defensive standout down low for the Golden Tornadoes, suffered a hard fall and had to leave the game.  Without Rusyn in the middle of the defense, Grove City finished the game by attacking the rim repeatedly, closing the contest on a 13-2 run to pull away for an 86-70 victory.

Moose finished his standout career with 20 points and six rebounds to lead Geneva, ending his career in the top ten in Geneva history in both points and rebounds.  Veynovich, who really came on over the last half of the season, finished with 14 points.  Stutz, who also played well down the stretch, added 11 points, while Rusyn finished his strong career with 10 points and four blocks.  Both Moose and Stutz were named to the PAC All-Tournament team at the end of the night.  Geneva finished the game shooting 42% from the floor, including 9-of-25 from long range.  Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes never found a way to slow down Grove City, who shot 52% for the game, particularly the Wolverines' senior duo of Peters and James Wells.  Peters finished the night with 28 points, while Wells added 18 points. 

"I'm just so proud of this group," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We made so much improvement throughout the season.  We started PAC play 1-5, and to finish where we did, in the PAC Championship game, is such an accomplishment for our guys, and it's the way these guys finished this season which will be the way we remember this team."

"I also can't say enough about the support our fans and our students gave us tonight," continued Santarsiero.  "This was the best crowd we've had in a long time, and for everyone to travel up here tonight is something that our team is so grateful for.  Unfortunately, we ran into a bit of a buzz saw this evening with the way Grove City played.  They were the better team tonight, and I congratulate Coach Lamie and their entire team.  They are a worthy champion and I wish them all the best as they head into the NCAA Tournament.

"It's always hard to lose when the season ends, but we had one of the best senior classes we've had in a while.  Moose will go down as one of the best we've had here, and Rusyn transformed himself into one of the best big guys in our conference.  It's such a shame what happened to Noah (Damazo).  Not having our second-leading scorer and our toughest player the final month of the season was a big loss for us, but nobody bleeds Geneva black-and-gold more than Noah."

Moose, Rusyn and Damazo finish their careers, along with senior reserve Matthew Partridge (Sandy Lake, Pa./Lakeview), with the defeat, and that group leaves some big holes to fill with their graduation.  However, Geneva has much to look forward to next year with the return of a number of key players who were a big part of Geneva's run down the stretch.


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.