BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In what felt like a heavyweight slugfest between two talented teams, the Geneva College men's basketball team held on late to defeat Carnegie Mellon, 52-49, in a game both teams locked in defensively and neither team shot it well.  The men improved to 7-1 on the season, their best start since Geneva opened with 15 straight victories in 1993, while CMU fell to 6-2.  It was also the men's first win over the Tartans since 1977.

The cold shooting started early for both teams.  The first bucket, a layup from junior Ryan Rachic, took over two minutes to occur, and seven minutes into the game, the score was tied at 4-4.  A three-pointer from sophomore Trevor Tipton, one of just two long range shots Geneva hit all night, gave the Golden Tornadoes a 9-5 lead eight minutes in.

Geneva managed to hold the lead for most of the half, but never by more than four points.  With four minutes left in the half, CMU tied the score at 13-13.  The Tartans didn't take their first lead until 45 seconds remained in the half, 20-18, but a free throw from sophomore Mark Rachic and a layup at the buzzer by Rachic gave the Golden Tornadoes a 21-20 lead at the break.

CMU opened the second half with four straight points to take its biggest lead of the game, 24-21.  Geneva answered with six straight points on baskets from Ryan Rachic and seniors Isaac Massie and Lyle Tipton, to take the lead back, but neither team could get on track offensively as neither team could hit outside shots.  Almost 30 minutes into the game, Geneva led 31-28.

At that point the Golden Tornadoes finally put together some offensive success, almost exclusively with baskets in the paint.  Over a three-minute stretch, Geneva went on a 10-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 41-28, with 7:22 remaining.  Geneva still led 47-36 after a bucket from Mark Rachic with 3:46 remaining and looked to be in good shape.

However, the Tartans put together a strong closing finish to get back into the game.  CMU scored six quick points over the next minute to close within five points, and the Tartans pulled with two, 48-46, with 46 seconds remaining.  Lyle Tipton converted two free throws with 26 seconds left, but a 30-foot three-pointer from Jack Stone, CMU's first made three-pointer all night, with eight seconds remaining pulled the Tartans within one point.  Massie was fouled immediately and knocked down two free throws, and then Stone's long three-pointer at the buzzer banged off the rim, enabling Geneva to hold on for the 52-49 victory.

Lyle Tipton led the team with 20 points, Mark Rachic added 10 points and Ryan Rachic contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.  Geneva shot just 19-of-55 (34%) from the floor, while CMU shot an even worse 18-of-66 (27%).  The two teams combined to shoot 3-of-40 (7%) from three-point range, with the Golden Tornadoes finishing 2-of-21 (9%) and the Tartans 1-of-19 (5%).

"This was a really gutsy win for our guys," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "Offensively it wasn't there for us tonight, and neither was it for CMU.  Both teams really locked in defensively, though, and it was just an 'in-the-trenches' kind of win for us.  I'm just really proud of our guys with the way they battled.  Some games the shots just aren't going to drop, and when that happens, you have to pick up your defensive intensity, and we did that tonight.  Now we need to have a strong finish to the semester at Waynesburg on Saturday, and with the way last season ended, our guys will really try to focus in for that game."

Geneva will play at Waynesburg on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. to close out the semester before finals occur for the college next week.  The men are currently 4-1 in the conference, a half game behind W&J for first place 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 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).