BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – For the second time this season, the Geneva College men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to Westminster, this one coming on Wednesday night inside Metheny Fieldhouse.  The game had wild swings each way, with the Golden Tornadoes holding a lead the whole second half but unable to finish off the win, and then after falling into a huge hole in overtime, Geneva stormed back but fell just short, losing 93-92 to the Titans.  Geneva saw its four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-7 overall, 7-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Westminster improved to 11-6, 8-3 in the PAC.

Westminster jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and led for much of the first half.  Geneva was able to tie the game multiple times, but the Golden Tornadoes didn't take their first lead until senior Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) hit a three-pointer with 4:27 left in the half to give Geneva a 30-28 lead.  After Westminster regained the lead, senior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) hit a three-pointer and a jumper in the final minute to send the Golden Tornadoes into the break with a 39-35 lead.  Junior Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) led Geneva with 14 points in the half.

Junior Ryan Rachic (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert) opened the second half with two straight baskets.  Two minutes later, back-to-back baskets by Tipton and Luptak gave Geneva its first double-digit lead of the game, 50-39.

The Golden Tornadoes still led 63-55 with 11:18 remaining when the Titans went on a run to pull within two, 63-61.  Geneva had an answer, though, with Luptak and Rachic scoring back-to-back baskets, and four minutes later, after a bucket from Rachic with 5:48 remaining in the game, the Golden Tornadoes led 73-66.  Unfortunately, that was the last basket in regulation for Geneva.

The Golden Tornadoes' offense went cold, converting only three free throws for the remainder of regulation, which allowed Westminster to come all the way back and send the game to overtime tied at 76-76.  Luptak had a three-pointer from 30 feet away at the buzzer that almost banked in that would have given Geneva the victory.

Westminster carried that momentum into the overtime period and surged out to a big lead, making three three-pointers in the opening three minutes and seemingly taking command, 88-78, with 2:19 left.

Geneva refused to give up, though.  Luptak hit a three-pointer to get the offense going, and the Golden Tornadoes used three-point plays from Luptak and Massie, followed by another Massie basket, to pull within 92-89 with 1:10 remaining.  The Titans converted one of two free throws, but Tipton converted another three-point play with nine seconds left to pull Geneva within 93-92.

The Titans then turned the ball over on the following inbounds play, and after a Geneva timeout, the Golden Tornadoes got the ball into Tipton in the post, and he was fouled on a shot with three seconds remaining, sending the PAC's leading scorer to the line with a chance to win the game in dramatic fashion.

Unfortunately, the miraculous comeback did not happen for the Golden Tornadoes.  Tipton missed the first free throw, and though he swished the second free throw, the referees ruled he had crossed over the free throw line too quickly and committed a lane violation on the second attempt, negating the free throw.  Westminster threw a long inbounds pass on the following play, which Tipton intercepted, but his 40-foot shot at the buzzer missed and Westminster held on for the 93-92 win.

Tipton led the Golden Tornadoes with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Rachic added 20 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.  Luptak finished with 21 points, while Veynovich added 10 points.  Geneva shot 46.7% from the floor, but after making 7-of-15 three-pointers in the first half, the Golden Tornadoes made just 2-of-13 from long range in the second half and overtime.

Westminster finished 47.1% from the floor, including an 8-of-16 effort from three-point range, with the Titans making all three long-range shots in overtime.  Westminster was led by low-post player Josh Hutcherson, who Geneva had no answer for.  Hutcherson finished with 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor, all but one shot coming at the hoop.

"This was a classic Geneva versus Westminster game," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "We put ourselves in great position to win, but we didn't execute down the stretch of regulation and allowed Westminster to get the game to overtime.  We obviously didn't respond great early in overtime, but I was really proud of our fight and resiliency in not giving up and almost coming up with a tremendous comeback.  Unfortunately they made more key shots late than we did.  This one stings for sure, but we don't have much time to stay down as we have a big game at first-place Chatham on Saturday."

Geneva does head to Chatham on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. matchup with the first-place Cougars.  Chatham has only lost once in conference play, and Geneva was responsible for that loss inside Metheny Fieldhouse right before Christmas break.

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 has one of the top 100 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).