BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Fans at Metheny Fieldhouse on Wednesday night wouldn't have known that senior Lyle Tipton was just getting over the flu after watching Tipton pour in 26 first-half points against Allegheny, and combined with another double-double from junior Ryan Rachic, the Golden Tornadoes earned an 85-69 victory over the Gators.  Geneva improved to 5-1 overall, 3-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Allegheny dropped to 3-5, 2-2 in the PAC.

Rachic opened the game with a three-pointer, and a minute later a three-pointer from freshman Jonathan Bertovich gave Geneva an early 6-2 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes went cold, though, over the next four minutes, enabling Allegheny to score ten straight points to take a 12-6 edge.

Geneva responded quickly, though, led mostly by Tipton.  Bertovich hit a layup, followed by a three-point play and back-to-back short jumpers from Tipton to give the Golden Tornadoes the lead back, 15-14.  In fact, Tipton scored 18 of Geneva's 20 points over an eight-minute stretch to carry the Golden Tornadoes, but Allegheny hung right with Geneva, pulling even at 32-32 with 3:30 remaining in the half.

The Golden Tornadoes finished the half well, though.  Tipton hit his fourth three-pointer of the half to give Geneva a lead it would ultimately not relinquish.  Senior Isaac Massie hit a free throw, Rachic drained a three-pointer and a layup, and Tipton closed the half with another three-pointer to send the Golden Tornadoes into break with a 44-37 advantage.  Tipton was 9-of-14 from the floor in the half, including hitting all five of his three-point attempts, while Rachic added 12 points.

Tipton hit a circus shot on the first possession of the second half, while also getting fouled, and the three-point play gave Geneva its first double-digit lead of the game, 47-37.  Allegheny didn't go away, though, using a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to pull within 49-46.

Rachic responded with another three-pointer to push the lead back to six points, and the lead hovered between six and eight points over the next several minutes.  A layup from Rachic, though, sparked eight straight points by Geneva midway through the second half, pushing the Golden Tornado advantage to 68-54 after a layup from Bertovich.  Allegheny broke the run with a free throw, but a layup from Rachic extended the Geneva edge to 70-55 with 8:45 remaining.

Allegheny managed to cut the Golden Tornado lead under double digits twice, the last time coming at 75-67 with four minutes remaining.  However, a jumper from freshman Trey Barker, followed by buckets from Rachic and Massie, gave Geneva a comfortable 81-67 advantage, and the Golden Tornadoes easily closed out the win from there, 85-69.

Tipton finished with 35 points in the game, and Rachic added his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Bertovich chipped in with a career-high 14 points, while Massie contributed seven points, six assists and five rebounds. 

Geneva finished the game shooting 33-of-68 (49%) from the floor and 10-of-21 (48%) from three-point range, including an 8-of-12 (67%) effort from long range in the first half.  Allegheny shot 29-of-65 (45%) from the floor and 5-of-20 (25%) from three-point range.  Preston Turk led four Gators in double figures with 18 points.

"This was a really solid win for us," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "Allegheny's a good team, and I thought we executed at key times and got stops when we needed them.  Obviously, Lyle was tremendous in the first half, but he kind of ran out steam in the second half coming off the flu, and other guys stepped up.  Ryan had another really good game.  He's just so consistent for us.  Jonathan and Trey gave us their best games so far this season, and Isaac was his typical steady and calm self.  Now we'll get ready for Franciscan's up-tempo, pressing style on Saturday."

The men will be back in Metheny Fieldhouse on Saturday when Geneva hosts Franciscan for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.

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).