BEREA, Ohio – The Geneva College men's basketball team used a big first half to pick up an impressive road win at Baldwin Wallace on Saturday afternoon. Three days after the Yellow Jackets defeated the preseason favorites in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), W&J, by almost 20 points on the same floor, the Golden Tornadoes held off a late Balwin Wallace rally to pull out the victory, 78-77. The victory was even more impressive considering Geneva was playing without one of its best players, senior
Ryan Rachic. The men now have two impressive road wins to start the season.
Sophomore
Jonathan Bertovich got the men started with a three-pointer. Baldwin Wallace grabbed a brief early lead, 6-5, but Geneva quickly took control. Junior
Payton Triplett hit a layup, junior
Mark Rachic scored while being fouled, converting the free throw, and junior
Trevor Tipton knocked down a three-pointer and a jumper to complete a quick ten-point burst. The Golden Tornadoes never trailed again.
The Yellow Jackets broke the ten-point run with a bucket, but Tipton followed with back-to-back baskets, the last another three-pointer, to extend the Geneva advantage to 20-8 just five minutes into the game.
Baldwin Wallace answered with six straight points to close within six points, but a layup by Bertovich and a three-pointer from graduate student
Isaac Massie pushed the lead back into double digits, where it stayed for the remainder of the half.
Two minutes later, a layup and a three-pointer by Bertovich, and layups from Massie and Rachic pushed the Golden Tornado lead to 34-16 six minutes before halftime. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to ten late, but a three-pointer from sophomore
Trey Barker gave Geneva a 50-37 lead at the break. The Golden Tornadoes shot 56% it the half, including a 7-of-11 effort from deep.
Eight straight Geneva points, four of them by Tipton, gave the Golden Tornadoes their biggest lead of the game, 60-41, five minutes into the second half. Baldwin Wallace tried to cut into the lead, but for most of the half Geneva always had an answer. Another three-pointer from Massie with eight minutes remaining gave the Golden Tornadoes a 67-52 edge.
At that point, the Yellow Jackets began to cut into the lead. A jumper from Tipton gave the Golden Tornadoes a 70-58 edge with a little over six minutes left, but Baldwin Wallace responded with eight straight points over the next three minutes to close within four points. With a minute and a half remaining, two Yellow Jacket free throws cut the Geneva advantage to just 73-72.
Tipton was fouled and converted both free throws on Geneva's following possession, but Balwin Wallace responded with two free throws. Both teams had turnovers on their following possessions, and Massie knocked down two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to give Geneva a 78-75 lead. Baldwin Wallace got a three-pointer off with two seconds remaining that would have tied it, but it hit off the rim. The Yellow Jackets tipped in the miss for the final two points of the game, but Geneva held on 78-77.
"This was such a good road win for us, especially playing without Ryan," said Head Coach
Jeff Santarsiero. "Baldwin Wallace is a pretty good team, but we played really good team basketball today. JB (
Jonathan Bertovich) really controlled the game for us in the first half, doing just about whatever he wanted offensively. Mark had a strong first half as well. Trevor and Isaac were really good for us too, especially late. We'll enjoy this one, but conference play starts on Wednesday, so we need turn the page and get ready for Thiel."
Tipton led the team with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. Massie was right behind with 19 points. Bertovich equaled his career-high with 16 points, while Rachic chipped in with 11 points. Geneva shot 46% from floor, including an 8-of-16 effort from three-point range. The Golden Tornadoes also out-rebounded the bigger Yellow Jackets, 40-38.
Geneva will start PAC play on Wednesday with a home game against Thiel, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. 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 the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
