BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team avenged its loss earlier this season to Waynesburg on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Yellow Jackets on the road to close out the regular season with a win, 80-67, and in doing so defeated the same Waynesburg team the Golden Tornadoes will face in the first round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs next week. Geneva improved to 14-9 overall, 12-5 in the PAC, the most conference wins the Golden Tornadoes have ever had since joining the PAC ten years ago, while Waynesburg dropped to 13-12, 9-9 in the PAC.
It was Waynesburg who came out energized on its Senior Day. The Yellow Jackets scored the first six points of the game before junior Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) hit two free throws to get Geneva on the board. Waynesburg scored the next five points, though, on its way to an 11-2 lead just over three minutes into the game. The Golden Tornadoes briefly cut the deficit down to five, but the Yellow Jackets quickly extended their lead to 11 points, 23-12.
Geneva responded with a run, kicked off by a three-pointer from senior Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy), followed by three-pointers from juniors Ryan Rachic (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert) and Isaac Massie (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Homeschool). Rachic then added a free throw before Veynovich capped off the run with another three-pointer to give Geneva its first lead of the game, 25-23, with 7:18 remaining.
The final seven minutes saw the lead bounce back and forth between the two teams. Two free throws from Tipton gave Geneva its biggest lead of the game to that point, 42-37, with just under two minutes left, but Waynesburg scored the final four points of the half to pull within 42-41 at the break. Tipton had 13 points and Veynovich 12 points.
The game stayed tight early in the second half. Geneva led the first eight minutes, but never by more than four points, before back-to-back buckets by the Yellow Jackets gave Waynesburg a brief 55-54 lead. However, Waynesburg's leading scorer, Matt Popeck, was injured in a collision on the second basket and had to leave the game, a key turning point in the contest.
Geneva immediately responded with a layup from Tipton, followed by another three-pointer from Veynovich, two free throws from Massie and another bucket from Veynovich to give Geneva a 63-55 in less than two minutes.
Waynesburg closed to within four points, 63-59, with back-to-back baskets, but the Golden Tornadoes took control of the game with 10 straight points, capped off with back-to-back three-pointers from Rachic and Tipton, and the lead never dipped below double digits again, with Geneva closing out the game for an 80-67 victory.
Tipton led the offense with 27 points. Veynovich scored 19 points, including five three-pointers, Rachic added 14 points and Massie 12 points in a fairly balanced attack. Geneva shot 49.1% from the floor, including an impressive 12-of-24 (50%) effort from three-point range.
Popeck led Waynesburg with 20 points in the first 28 minutes of the game before he was forced out due to the injury. The Yellow Jackets shot 42.4% from the floor, including a 4-of-13 (30.8%) effort from long range. Waynesburg held a slight advantage on the boards, 36-33.
"This was a great road win for us," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We buckled down in the second half and finally did a good job rebounding. It was unfortunate what happened to Popeck with his injury, and we will say a prayer for him. Now we're looking forward to Tuesday night and a chance to play Waynesburg again."
Geneva finished the regular season tied for third place in the conference with Westminster, but the Titans won the tiebreaker because they swept Geneva, which drops the Golden Tornadoes into the fourth seed in the PAC playoffs. As the #4 seed, Geneva will host the #5 seed, Waynesburg, on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. inside Metheny Fieldhouse in the quarterfinals of the PAC playoffs. The winner will most likely travel to top-seeded W&J on Thursday.
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).
