(An earlier version of this story said the 17 three-pointers were a school record.  That number is actually second most.)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – It's been quite a run over the past two weeks for the Geneva College men's basketball team.  The Golden Tornadoes' winning streak continued on Saturday as Geneva fought off a hot start from Chatham to pick up another road victory, 91-83.  Led by a career-high 25 points from senior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College), the Golden Tornadoes made 17 three-pointers in the win, second most in school history.  The victory was Geneva's fifth in a row, moving its record to 5-1 overall, 5-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), keeping the Golden Tornadoes in a tie with Westminster and W&J atop the PAC and setting up a big matchup with the Titans next week.  Chatham fell to 2-3 overall, 2-3 in the PAC.

Things actually didn't start well for Geneva in this one.  Senior AJ Stroop (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburg) opened the game with a bucket, but Chatham answered with 10 straight points before a three-pointer from junior Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) finally broke the Cougar run.  Chatham stayed hot, though, extending its lead to 17-7 almost six minutes into the game.

A three-pointer from Stutz got the Golden Tornado offense going.  That shot started a Geneva run of its own, 15-5, over the next four minutes, and after another three-pointer from Stutz, a three-point play from junior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and a basket from Stroop, Geneva knotted the score at 22-22.

Chatham had another response, though.  The Cougars continued to hit from deep, led by their sophomore guard Marcos Cintron, and over the next four minutes, Chatham built its lead back to ten points, 35-25, with the Cougars hitting six of their first eight shots in the game from three-point range. 

This time it was sophomore Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian Academy) who got the Geneva offense back in gear, converting a three-point play with 5:18 to pull Geneva to within six points, 37-31.  Five quick points from Stutz, including another three-pointer, pulled Geneva to with 39-36, and a moment later, back-to-back three-pointers from Stutz gave Geneva a 42-41 lead, its first lead since the opening basket of the game.  Chatham was able to regain the lead, though, 45-44, heading into the halftime break.  Stutz had 18 points in the half.

Tipton opened the second half with a jumper to give Geneva the lead back, and the game went back and forth over the next several minutes, each team trading baskets.  Veynovich hit back-to-back three-pointers three minutes in, but the Cougars continued to have an answer.  However, another three-pointer, this one from Tipton with 13:13 remaining, gave Geneva the lead back, 60-59, and the Golden Tornadoes would never trail again.

With Geneva clinging to a 62-61 lead, the Golden Tornadoes went on a 13-5 run, extending their lead to 75-66 on a Tipton jumper with 8:21 remaining.  Luptak and Veynovich hit key three-pointers in the stretch.  Chatham pulled to within 77-71, but another three-pointer from Veynovich followed by a bucket from Luptak pushed the Geneva lead to double-digits for the first time, 82-71, with 6:32 remaining.  The Cougars never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.  A sixth three-pointer from Veynovich with 2:00 remaining sealed the win for Geneva, giving the Golden Tornadoes their biggest lead of the game, 89-76, and Geneva finished out the 91-83 victory.

"Any win on the road is always great, especially when your opponent is hot early," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We got punched in the opening minutes, and we didn't help with some defensive mistakes we made.  But this group just seems to always have an answer.  Joel kept us in the game in the first half, and then Lyle, Matt and Amos were huge in the second half.  In the second half we really pushed the pace, and I think Chatham tired a little bit later in the game, but this team is just playing at a really high level right now.  It sets up a big game on Wednesday with first place in the conference on the line."

Stutz finished with a career-high 25 points to lead Geneva, including 5-of-9 from three-point range.  Tipton continued to play well, finishing with 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, nearly missing a triple-double.  Veynovich was also big for the Golden Tornadoes, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from long range.  Luptak was also in double figures, finishing with 15 points, a career-high eight assists, and six rebounds. 

As a team Geneva continues to put up impressive offensive numbers.  This was the third straight game the Golden Tornadoes scored over 90 points, the first time the program has done that in 13 years.  Geneva made 52% from the floor, but an even more impressive 17-of-28 (61%) from three-point range.  The Geneva record for made three-pointers in a game is 19 against Maryland Bible in 2000.  Chatham's numbers offensively were impressive as well, finishing 49% from the floor, including an 11-of-24 (46%) effort from deep.  That probably would have been good enough to beat most teams, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Golden Tornadoes on Saturday afternoon.  Cintron led the Cougars with 22 points.

The victory sets up one of the biggest regular season games in a long time for the Golden Tornadoes.  Geneva next welcomes Westminster to Metheny Fieldhouse on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.  After already defeating W&J earlier this season, a win by the Golden Tornadoes would give them the inside track for the regular season PAC crown.


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.