LATROBE, Pa. – This is probably a game the Geneva College men's basketball team would like back.  The Golden Tornadoes opened the season at Saint Vincent on Saturday afternoon, and despite struggling from long range throughout most of the game, Geneva found itself with a chance to win late.  However, Saint Vincent made the plays to win the game in the final minute, and the Bearcats held on for a 68-66 victory.  Saint Vincent improved to 1-0, 1-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 0-1, 0-1 in the PAC.

Geneva opened the game with a layup from sophomore Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) and a three-pointer from junior Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) to take a 5-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.  The offense went cold, though, over the next several minutes, as Tipton had to go to the bench with early foul trouble.  Saint Vincent took advantage in outscoring the Golden Tornadoes 24-8 over the next eight minutes, taking its biggest of the lead of the game, 24-13, at the midway point of the first half.

However, back-to-back shots from deep from senior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) and Veynovich got the Geneva offense going again, and after two free throws from senior Jake Ford (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local), the Golden Tornadoes pulled to within 26-25 with six minutes remaining in the half.  Unfortunately, Geneva made just one shot in the final six minutes, enabling the Bearcats to take a 34-29 lead into the break.

The offense came out strong in the opening minutes of the second half, while the defense gave the Saint Vincent offense trouble.  Tipton scored four straight to open the half, senior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College) hit back-to-back three-pointers, and Tipton finished off the run with a layup six minutes into the half to give Geneva its biggest lead of the night, 45-39.

Saint Vincent would respond once again, this time with back-to-back three-pointers of its own, and with ten minutes remaining in the game, Geneva found itself back down 52-47.  The game went back-and-forth the rest of the way.  Geneva took its last lead of the game, 62-61, with three minutes remaining on a three-pointer from Veynovich.  The Bearcats responded with six straight points to give Saint Vincent a 67-62 lead with just under a minute to go.  Geneva didn't quit, though, scoring four straight to pull within 67-66, and after Saint Vincent missed two free throws, the Golden Tornadoes had a chance to win late, but Tipton was blocked at the rim with five seconds remaining, and Saint Vincent held on for a 68-66 win.

"It's been almost a year since we played, so I think both teams had some up and downs today," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "Lyle getting in foul trouble early in the first half really hurt us.  We also had a lot of good looks tonight that just didn't fall for us.  For the style we want play this year, we're going to depend a lot on our outside shooting, and tonight we just couldn't get them to drop.  Some nights the shots just don't go in, and that was the case tonight.  But I'm proud of the way our guys battled to the end, even on an off-shooting night."

Tipton led the offense with 14 points, Veynovich finished with 12 points, and sophomore Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool) added 10 points in the loss.  Senior AJ Stroop (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburg-Clay) grabbed 10 rebounds.  For the game, Geneva shot just 33% from the floor, including a 9-of-39 (23%) effort from long range.  Shemar Bennett led the Bearcats with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, as Saint Vincent finished at 46% from the floor and outrebounded Geneva 46-37.

Geneva opens the home portion of its schedule on Monday night when it takes on Waynesburg at 7:00 p.m. in Metheny Fieldhouse.


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.