LANCASTER, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team's season came to a close on Thursday night at Lancaster Bible in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Midwest Regional Championship game. The Golden Tornadoes fell into a double-digit hole early, and despite a late Geneva rally, the Chargers held on for a 78-75 victory. Geneva's season ends with a 14-11 overall record, while Lancaster Bible advances to the NCCAA National Tournament next week in Indiana.
Early on, Geneva looked like a team that hadn't played a game in 16 days. Lancaster Bible hit a three-pointer and a layup in the opening minute to give the Chargers an early 5-0 lead. Back-to-back three-pointers from junior Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) and senior Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) pulled the Golden Tornadoes within 7-6, but that was as close as Geneva could get.
The Chargers used full-court pressure to get Geneva out of rhythm early while forcing a few Golden Tornado turnovers, which led to easy buckets for Lancaster Bible. A basket by the Chargers just over six minutes into the game completed a 10-2 run, giving Lancaster Bible a 20-10 lead.
Geneva used a quick spurt, capped off by a three-point play from junior Ryan Rachic (Prince Frederick, Md./Calvert), to pull within 23-19 four minutes later. However, Lancaster Bible put together its best stretch of the game over the next four minutes, responding with a 16-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 39-24, with five minutes remaining before halftime.
The Golden Tornadoes closed the half well, though. Geneva outscored the Chargers 14-4 over the final four minutes, with Tipton scoring ten of the points to pull the Golden Tornadoes within 45-40 at the break.
Rachic and Luptak opened the second half with back-to-back baskets, pulling Geneva within one point, but once again, that was as close as the Golden Tornadoes could get. Lancaster Bible slowly re-established a double-digit lead over the next eight minutes, with a three-pointer giving the Chargers a 61-51 advantage with 11 minutes to play.
The lead hovered between five and ten points over the next eight minute before Geneva put together one last spurt. Trailing 74-64 with 2:30 remaining, Tipton, Rachic and Luptak hit baskets, and after a Charger bucket, a three-pointer from senior Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla./Highlands Academy) and another basket from Rachic pulled Geneva within 77-75 with 20 seconds remaining.
Geneva forced a five-second call on the following inbounds play, giving the ball back to the Golden Tornadoes, but Geneva turned it back over on its possession, forcing the Golden Tornadoes to foul. The Chargers hit one of the two free throws, giving Geneva one last chance, but a long three-pointer from Tipton missed with six seconds remaining. Geneva fouled, and Lancaster Bible missed both free throws, but the Golden Tornadoes didn't get a chance to get off one last attempt before the buzzer sounded, falling 78-75.
Tipton closed out his standout junior season with another big night, leading the team with 30 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Rachic added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Luptak chipped in with 13 points. Geneva shot just 39.7% from the floor, including an 8-of-24 (33%) effort from long range.
Lancaster Bible shot 44.1% from the floor, including 6-of-18 (33%) from three-point range. The Chargers were led by Jordan Shewbridge, who finished with 28 points. Lancaster Bible also held a slim 41-38 advantage on the boards.
"We were concerned that we might have some struggles early in the game, having not played in over two weeks, and that was certainly the case tonight," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "It definitely took us a little bit of time to shake off the rust, and unfortunately that put us in a pretty big hole that took a lot of effort to dig out of. I'm really proud of the way we never gave up, though, giving ourselves a chance at the end. Despite getting some good looks, we just didn't shoot it particularly well, especially from three-point range, and to win late in the year against good teams, you've got to knock down your open shots.
"So, it always hurts when the end of the season comes, but I'm really proud of how this team played this year. I also can't say enough about our four seniors, Amos, Matt, Mike and Steve (Oliver). This class has been a big part of our recent success, and we're really going to miss them."
The Golden Tornadoes do lose a strong senior class, but Tipton and Rachic return, Geneva's leading scorers this season, along with a few other key contributors, giving the Golden Tornadoes a strong core to build upon heading into next season.
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).
