GROVE CITY, Pa. – Geneva and Grove City entered their Saturday afternoon matchup both unbeaten, but the Golden Tornadoes took early control in the road affair and earned an impressive and dominant win over the Wolverines, 68-44.  Geneva has now won its first four games of the season, the first time the men have done that since the 1997-98 season, while improving to 2-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).  Grove City fell to 4-1, 1-1 in the PAC.

Junior Payton Triplett and senior Ryan Rachic scored the opening two baskets of the game, and the Golden Tornado defense completely shut down the Grove City offense.  Rachic led the offensive charge early, with Geneva finding success in the paint.  A jumper from Rachic gave the Golden Tornadoes a double-digit lead, 16-6, almost nine minutes into the game. 

The lead continued to grow after a Grove City bucket.  Sophomore Aiden Rorick scored in the paint, graduate student Isaac Massie hit a midrange jumper, and Triplett hit a short jump hook to give Geneva a 22-8 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. 

Grove City finally hit double digits with six minutes remaining, but a minute later another jumper from Massie and the first three-pointer of the game by either team from junior Trevor Tipton gave the men a commanding 27-10 lead.  Massie followed with another bucket, and then junior Mark Rachic knocked down a triple to extend the Geneva lead to 32-10 three minutes before half.  A late spurt did allow Grove City to pull within 36-19 going into the break.

Geneva put the game away early in the second half.  Grove City opened with a basket before Geneva scored eight quick points.  Ryan Rachic hit a bucket, followed by two free throws, Massie scored at the rim, and Triplett hit a short jumper to give the Golden Tornadoes their biggest lead of the game to that point, 44-21.

The game was never in doubt the rest of the way.  Grove City only briefly cut the lead under 20 points once.  Another three-pointer from Tipton with eight minutes remaining gave Geneva a 57-30 advantage, allowing Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero to give his bench some extended playing time over the final minutes of the game, with the Golden Tornadoes earning a 68-44 victory.

Ryan Rachic led the team with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, as the Wolverines had no answer for his inside presence in the paint.  Tipton was right behind with 16 points in another balanced offensive effort from the Golden Tornadoes.  Geneva shot an impressive 29-of-53 (55%) from the floor, which is even more notable considering the men made just 4-of-16 (25%) from deep. 

The Geneva defense was suffocating, with Grove City unable to generate many good looks with its flex offense.  The Wolverines made just 18-of-59 (30%) from the floor, including 2-of-17 (12%) from three-point range.

"I'm really proud of our performance today, particularly on the defensive end," said Coach Santarsiero.  "We really won this game on the defensive end, really locking them down and not allowing them to do what they wanted to do offensively.  Ryan was really good for us early.  We really couldn't find the range from deep for most of the day, but we attacked the rim and again got a very balanced offensive attack.  Now we've got to get ready for a huge test on Tuesday at Chatham."

The men will face another big road challenge on Tuesday when Geneva travels to Chatham for an 8:00 p.m. contest with the reigning PAC Champion Cougars.

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).