BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team put together an impressive performance on the first night of the Coaches vs Cancer Tipoff Classic on Friday night. Facing a Lancaster Bible team that was coming off a tournament championship last weekend at Franklin & Marshall College, the Golden Tornadoes rebounded from a slow start to take control of the game in convincing fashion, earning an 86-73 victory. Geneva improved to 2-0, while Lancaster Bible dropped to 2-1.
It was the Chargers that were the better team early. After a jumper from junior Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) opened the scoring, Lancaster Bible responded with a 13-4 run to take a 13-6 lead four minutes into the game. The Chargers still maintained a lead, 20-14, with eight minutes gone in the half before Geneva took control.
Junior Ryan Rachic (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert) got things going for the Golden Tornadoes with a three-pointer. Tipton followed with a steal and a layup, and a minute later senior Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highland Academy) drained a three-pointer to give Geneva its first lead, 24-22, since the opening minute. Lancaster Bible responded with a bucket to tie the score, but that would be the last time the Chargers would pull even.
Freshman Trevor Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) started a big run over the final seven minutes of the first half with a three-pointer, and Geneva would never relinquish the lead again. A moment later, back-to-back layups from the Tipton brothers, followed by another three-pointer by Veynovich, pushed Geneva's lead to 34-26. Lancaster Bible responded with a three-pointer, but Lyle Tipton answered right back with a three-pointer and a layup, followed by a layup by Rachic to increase Geneva's lead to 41-29 with two minutes remaining. A three-pointer by senior Mike Melewski (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) in the final minute sent Geneva into the locker room with a 44-31 lead. Lyle Tipton had 15 points in the half.
If the Chargers had any hope of an early burst after the break to get back into the game, Geneva eliminated those chances quickly. Junior Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool) opened the second half with a jumper in the lane, followed by another three-pointer by Veynovich, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 49-31 lead less than a minute into the second half.
Lancaster Bible never got closer than 13 points the rest of the game. Every time the Chargers, led primarily by senior guard Jordan Shewbridge, who came into the game averaging over 20 points per game, knocked down a couple of shots, the Golden Tornadoes always had an answer. Geneva took its biggest lead of the game, 65-44, on a short jumper in the lane by sophomore CJ Ziegler (Brentwood, Pa./Brentwood) with 10:45 remaining.
Two highlights from the final ten minutes included a steal and a dunk from Lyle Tipton, and a between the legs, from the back to the front, dribble by Massie to glide past two players and lay it in through contact as the shot clock expired. The final two minutes saw Geneva with the opportunity to cycle all the way through its bench, and the Golden Tornadoes easily finished out the 86-73 win.
Lyle Tipton led the way again, following his 39-point performance in the opener against Kenyon, with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He made 11-of-20 shots from the floor, hit 2-of-3 from the foul line and drained his only three-point attempt. He also added four assists, three steals and a block. Rachic also had another big game, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Veynovich scored 15 points, including a 3-of-7 effort from long range, while Trevor Tipton finished with 13 points. As a team, Geneva shot 47.2% from the floor, including a 9-of-22 (40.9%) effort from long range.
Lancaster Bible finished the game shooting 42.3% from the floor, hitting 6-of-17 (35.3%) from deep. Shrewbridge led the Chargers with 23 points.
"This was a great win for us," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "I have a lot of respect for Coach Mack and his program. I've known him for a long time, and he has a really good team this year. Our guys have really come together, and when we execute offensively like we did tonight, we are a pretty tough stop. Lyle had another really good game, and Ryan played very well also, but we got contributions from everyone. So, we'll enjoy this one briefly, but we have a quick turnaround and need to get ready to face another strong team in Albion tomorrow."
Geneva will face Albion College at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow on the final day of the tipoff classic. Albion defeated Grove City 57-48 in the first game of the day. Lancaster Bible and Grove City will square off at 1:00 p.m. in the other game on Saturday. The Golden Tornadoes will be looking for their third straight win to open the season, something they haven't done since 2010.
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 has one of the top 100 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).
