GREENVILLE, Pa. – It wasn't the start the Geneva College men's basketball team was looking for at Thiel on Saturday afternoon, but the Golden Tornadoes found a way to dig out of a 16-point first half deficit and knock off the Tomcats, 92-86.  Geneva improved to 6-2 overall, 6-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Thiel dropped 1-3 overall, 1-3 in the PAC.

Thiel came out red-hot.  The Tomcats opened with back-to-back three-pointers and led 8-0 before junior Matt Veynovich (Pompono Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) hit a three-pointer.  It didn't stem the tide as the Tomcats continued their run to push the lead out to 16-5.  Junior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) followed with a three-pointer, but Thiel continued to pour it on.  Another Thiel three-pointer with 4:43 remaining in the half pushed the Tomcat lead to 39-23.

However, Geneva put together a key stretch over the next two minutes to pull itself back into the game.  The Golden Tornadoes scored ten straight points, with Veynovich hitting another three-pointer and sophomore Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) adding a conventional three-point play, pulling Geneva within six points.  A free throw with two seconds remaining in the half by Luptak pulled Geneva within 43-38 at the break.

Thiel opened the second half well again, though, pushing its lead back out to double-digits, 52-41, after another Tomcat three-pointer dropped through.  Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool) and Tipton brought Geneva to within six, 52-46, before Thiel hit another three-pointer.  Two minutes later, the Golden Tornadoes made their move.  Trailing 59-52, Geneva scored seven straight, five by Luptak, to tie the score for the first time since 0-0.  After a layup and free throw by Thiel, back-to-back three-pointers by Tipton and senior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College) with 11:52 left gave the Golden Tornadoes their first lead of the night, 65-62.

Thiel tried to stay close, adding two more three-pointers over the next two minutes, but Geneva began to pull away.  With the Golden Tornadoes leading 70-68, Geneva put together an 11-2 run, with Stutz scoring five points, including a three-pointer, in the run.  The Golden Tornadoes never let Thiel get closer than seven points the rest of the way until a Tomcat bucket at the buzzer made the final score 92-86.

"What a gutsy road win for our guys," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We actually didn't play all that poorly in the first half, but Thiel just wouldn't miss early on, including some very difficult shots they got to drop.  There's just no quit in our team, though.  You can see it in their eyes.  We hit one shot, and then everyone just gets rolling.  Amos played a really strong game, and RJ Bell hit a couple big threes to keep us in it in the first half.  Then Joel took over in the second half.  Lyle played really well also.  He didn't have a huge scoring night, but he did everything else to help us win.  I felt like we were down six in the second half and then I looked up and we were ahead eleven.  We are really hard to defend because we are so balanced."

Luptak finished with a career high 23 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds.  Stutz added 22 points, including 20 in the second half after knocking down five three-pointers in the final period.  Tipton added 14 points, while senior AJ Stroop (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburg-Clay) tied a career high with 11 points.  Geneva shot 47% from the floor, and the Golden Tornadoes were deadly again from deep, finishing 14-of-29 (48%) from three-point range.  That helped offset a Thiel squad that made 12-of-24 from three-point range.  John Aarestrup led the Tomcats with a game-high 25 points, including a 6-of-10 effort from long range.

Geneva will close out its regular season when it hosts Franciscan next Saturday at 7:00 p.m.  The game will be Senior Night, with Geneva recognizing its four seniors, Joel Stutz, AJ Stroop, RJ Bell and Jake Ford.


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.