BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In a game that came down to the closing minutes, the #2-seed Geneva College men's basketball team saw its season come to an abrupt end in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Semifinals at the hands of a familiar nemesis, rival #4-seed Grove City.  In a game that was tied with two minutes remaining, it was the Wolverines who found the answers late to pull out a 91-85 victory.  It's the third straight season the Golden Tornadoes have fallen to the Wolverines in the PAC playoffs, including last season's championship game.  Grove City advances to take on top-seed Westminster in the PAC Championship on Saturday night, while Geneva's tremendous season ends with an 8-3 record.

The game proved everything fans would expect from a Geneva and Grove City matchup.  The Golden Tornadoes were the higher seed after knocking off the Wolverines earlier in the regular season, but Grove City also came in playing its best basketball of the season.

Senior Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa./Butler Community College) hit two three-pointers in the opening two minutes to provide some offense for the Golden Tornadoes, but Grove City executed its flex offense precisely, allowing the Wolverines to thrive with layups in the paint.  Grove City took a 15-9 lead, but three-pointers by junior Matt Veynovich (Pompon Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) and senior RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan), sandwiched around two free throws from junior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) allowed Geneva to tie the score at 17-17.  A moment later, a layup from Luptak regained the lead for Geneva, 21-19.

The lead changed hands ten times over the course of the first half, with seven ties, before Grove City closed with a flurry.  The game was tied 36-36 with 3:47 remaining when the Wolverines went on an 11-3 run, with a three-pointer by Stutz with 30 seconds remaining pulling Geneva to within 47-42 at the break.

Grove City carried that momentum into the second half, opening the period on an 10-2 run in the opening three minutes, taking its biggest lead of the game, 57-44, with 17:07 remaining.  Geneva responded by switching to a zone defense, helping the Golden Tornadoes defend the paint better, and it sparked Geneva. 

Four straight points by sophomore Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) got the Golden Tornadoes rolling again, and after sophomore Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool) knocked down a three-pointer, Geneva pulled to within 58-57 with 12:55 remaining. 

Grove City managed to prevent Geneva from regaining the lead, though, and over the next seven minutes, the Wolverine lead fluctuated between one and six points.  Then, with just over six minutes remaining, Veynovich hit back-to-back three-pointers, and Luptak followed with two free throws to give Geneva a 77-75 lead with 5:48 remaining, Geneva's first lead since midway through the first half.

Over the next three and a half minutes, the game went back-and-forth, with each team coming up with big shots to answer their opponent.  Unfortunately, it was Geneva that went cold at the end, with rebounding being a problem.  A free throw from Luptak with 2:23 remaining tied the game at 80-80, but two straight second chance buckets by Grove City with less than two minutes remaining shifted the momentum, and the Wolverines closed out the game on an 11-5 run to pull away for the 91-85 win.

Tipton led the team in scoring with 17 points, but the sophomore standout had an uncharacteristically hard night against a very physical Grove City defense, with the forward finishing just 5-of-19 from the floor.  Luptak added 16 points for the Golden Tornadoes, while Veynovich finished with 14 points, including a 4-of-8 effort from three-point range.  Stutz finished with 12 points, all in the first half, on 4-of-7 shooting from deep.  Massie also reached double figures with 10 points. 

Grove City took advantage of its size advantage inside, scoring 46 points in the paint while shooting 54% from the floor, including 62% in the first half.  Geneva finished at 42% from the game, though the Golden Tornadoes were once again strong from the perimeter, knocking down 11-of-23 attempts from long range.  The Wolverines also punished the Golden Tornadoes on the boards, outrebounding Geneva 44-29 while converting 20 second-chance points, including two back-breaking stick-backs late.

"The end of the season is always really hard," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "In some ways this ending may sting a little less because of how uncertain we were to even have a season.  What our guys did to get to this point, with all the COVID restrictions, it was a blessing just to play.  Our seniors, especially, sacrificed so much to get us to this point, and with the way we played all season, with the way our students supported us, I'm so proud of these guys.

"As far as the game, the game was really physical, even a little harsh at times, which is the way Grove City dictated it and the way it was allowed to be played.  That style definitely favors Grove City with their size advantage.  We didn't handle it early, but our guys eventually adjusted, and we put ourselves in position to win.  We just couldn't get the stops we needed to late, and we were especially hurt on the boards.  Our Achilles' heel this season was our rebounding, and it bit us at the end.  We are really going to miss our group of seniors in Joel, AJ, RJ, Jake and Nate Szkarlatiuk, but we've got a very talented group returning that should be exciting to watch again next year."

Geneva's second-place finish in the PAC was its best performance since joining the conference ten years ago.  Tipton finished the season averaging over 20 points per game, and he returns along with double-digit scorers in Veynovich and Luptak.  Geneva also returns its starting point guard in Massie, so Geneva should have a strong core returning to try to make another run in the conference. 


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.