BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team got off to a hot start on Saturday afternoon inside Metheny Fieldhouse against W&J, but the Golden Tornadoes struggled to control the Presidents defensively, with W&J coming back to win a high-scoring affair on Senior Day, 111-103. W&J improved to 18-4, 13-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 12-9, 10-5 in the PAC.
Prior to the game, Geneva recognized its three senior players, Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley), Mike Melewski (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) and Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy), along with senior student-assistant coach Steven Oliver.
Veynovich opened the game with a three-pointer, and it proved to be a sign of things to come early on. Luptak followed with another three-pointer before Veynovich knocked down two more from long range to give the Golden Tornadoes an early 12-5 lead.
Freshman Trevor Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) came off the bench two minutes later and continued Geneva's hot-shooting, knocking down two three-pointers to give the Golden Tornadoes a 29-19 lead midway through the first half. Two minutes later, another three-pointer from Tipton again gave Geneva a double-digit lead, 33-23.
W&J kept coming, though, and Geneva kept providing answers for a while, with a fourth three-pointer from Tipton giving the Golden Tornadoes a 39-30 lead with 5:08 remaining in the half.
However, Geneva's perimeter shooting dried up over the final five minutes, and W&J took advantage. The Presidents finished the half on a 19-6 run, taking their first lead of the game in the process, giving W&J a 49-45 lead at the break. Tipton led the offense with 14 points.
The Presidents opened the second half with two buckets inside, and it foreshadowed what was to come. W&J held a notable size advantage down low, and the Presidents completely disregarded outside shots in the second half in favor of post-ups and drives to the basket, with Geneva struggling to find an answer. W&J built its lead as high as 61-47 before the Golden Tornadoes responded with their best stretch of the second half.
Back-to-back jumpers from juniors Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) and Ryan Rachic (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert) got the offense jump-started, and a three-pointer from Lyle Tipton capped off the 19-8 run over a five-minute stretch to pull Geneva within 69-66 with 11:35 remaining in the game.
Unfortunately, Geneva could never get any closer, as the Golden Tornadoes never figured out a way to slow down the W&J inside attack. The Golden Tornadoes were still within three points, 71-68, after two free throws from Lyle Tipton with 10:23 left, but W&J took control of the game over the next six minutes. The Presidents went on a 20-7 run to take an 91-75 lead with 3:44 left, effectively putting away the game. Geneva never got closer than seven points of the rest of the way, eventually falling 111-103.
Lyle Tipton, who battled foul trouble in the first half, finished with 23 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and the junior is now just two points shy of 1,000 career points. Trevor Tipton also finished with 23 points, a career high. Veynovich added 20 points, including six three-pointers, while Rachic and Luptak each contributed 15 points apiece. Geneva shot 44.4% from the floor, including 16-of-36 (44.4%) from three-point range.
W&J finished the game shooting 60% from the floor, including 67.5% in the second half when the Presidents shot only four of their 37 second-half shots from outside of three feet, attempting just one three-pointer in the second half. Michael Bigley led five Presidents in double figures with a game-high 26 points.
"It's certainly not the way we wanted to end the day on Senior Day," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We just didn't defend tonight. We gave up too many points off the bounce, and too many points inside. We have to do a better job if we're going to make a run in the PAC. That said, I'm really proud of our seniors, Amos, Matt and Mike, along with Steve. They're one of the classes that have helped turn this program around over the past couple of years. I wish we could have won for them today, but it doesn't diminish what these guys have done for the program over the past four years."
The loss drops Geneva into a third-place tie with Westminster in the PAC, though the Titans hold the tiebreaker having swept the Golden Tornadoes this season. The men close out the regular season with a home game against Saint Vincent on Wednesday and a road game at Waynesburg on Saturday.
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).
