BETHANY, W.Va. – The Geneva College men's basketball team left no doubt on Wednesday night at Bethany.  The Golden Tornadoes jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a dominating 98-62 victory over the Bison.  The win was Geneva's largest margin of victory in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game since joining the conference in 2011.  The Golden Tornadoes have now won four straight, improving to 4-1 overall, 4-1 in the PAC, while Bethany fell to 0-4, 0-4 in the PAC.

Junior Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) got Geneva off and running with a three-pointer on Geneva's opening possession.  Bethany answered with a free throw, and that was as close as the score would get all night.  A minute later Veynovich hit another three-pointer, and the rout was on.  Veynovich hit his third triple of the night two minutes later, and less than four minutes into the game the Golden Tornadoes led 14-3.

After Bethany briefly got the lead under double digits at 16-8, back-to-back layups from junior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) extended the lead to 20-8, and the lead never dipped below double digits again.  In fact, those layups were part of a 21-5 run over a seven-minute stretch for the Golden Tornadoes, pushing their lead to 37-13 on a three-point play from senior Jake Ford (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local).  Geneva did cool off offensively over the final five minutes of the half, allowing Bethany to cut the margin down to 45-30 at the half.  Veynovich and sophomore Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) each had nine points to lead a balanced attack.

Bethany tried to hang around early in the second half, staying within 15 points over the first five minutes.  A layup by Luptak followed by a three-pointer from senior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) pushed Geneva's lead to 56-36 with 14:18 remaining, though, and the Golden Tornadoes dominated the rest of the way.  Tipton scored nine straight points midway through the half, including two three-pointers, to extend Geneva's lead to 80-48 with 7:37 remaining, allowing Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero to empty his bench over the final five minutes.  The only question remaining was whether Geneva would hit triple digits, and the Golden Tornadoes fell just short in winning 98-62.  It was about the only thing Geneva failed to do on Wednesday night.

"This was the most complete game we've played in a while," said Coach Santarsiero.  "We got contributions from everyone up and down our lineup.  Lyle and Amos led the way, but right now we are so dangerous because we are getting good play from everyone in our lineup.  We shared the ball very well, leading to a lot of assists, and we limited turnovers.  We started out hot, and then we put the game away in the second half.

"We are playing really well right now, but we have a big game on Saturday at Chatham.  I'm sure they're going to be energized by the way we outplayed them in the PAC semifinals last season, so we'll have to be ready to play if we want to win again down there."

Tipton was huge again, finishing with 24 points, while Luptak added 18 points.  Veynovich also reached double figures with 11 points, while senior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College) and sophomore Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool) each had six assists.  Senior AJ Stroop (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburch-Clay) had a game-high nine rebounds.  Geneva shot 55% from the floor for the game, including an impressive 12-of-23 (52%) effort from three-point range.  In contrast, Bethany shot just 34% from the floor, including just 4-of-16 (25%) from deep.

Geneva stays on the road when it heads to Chatham on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.  The Golden Tornadoes return home next Wednesday for a game against Westminster at 7:00 p.m., who is currently tied for first in the PAC with Geneva.


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.