BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Graduate student Isaac Massie did all he could to will his team to another victory on Saturday afternoon, but a hot-shooting Pitt-Greensburg squad hit a shot in the closing seconds to give the Geneva College men's basketball team, who played most of the game without three regulars, its first defeat of the season, 87-85. Geneva's record is now 5-1 overall, while Pitt-Greensburg earned its first win of the season.
Geneva got off to a good start. Massie and junior Trevor Tipton hit early three-pointers, and a layup from junior Payton Triplett gave Geneva a quick 10-3 advantage three minutes into the game.
Pitt-Greensburg quickly got its offense going, though. All five Bobcat starters were effective offensively, and Pitt-Greensburg quickly pulled even at 12-12 two minutes later. The Bobcats kept scoring, and when Geneva went cold offensively for a few minutes, Pitt-Greensburg took advantage.
Geneva led 17-14 a minute later when the Bobcats put together a 16-3 run to grab a 30-20 edge over the Golden Tornadoes. Pitt-Greensburg hit its first four three-pointers of the game, and with eight minutes left in the half, the Bobcats led by double digits. Three minutes later, Pitt-Greensburg took its biggest lead of the game, 39-27.
Geneva responded to the big deficit, though, to get back into the game. Massie led the charge from long range, knocking down 6-of-7 from three-point range in the first half. Back-to-back three-pointers from Massie and Tipton pulled Geneva within 42-41 late before the Bobcats scored the final bucket of the half to take a 44-41 advantage into the break. Massie had 20 points in the first half.
Sophomore Jonathan Bertovich opened the second half with a three-pointer to pull Geneva even, but the Bobcats answered right back with a long-range shot. The Golden Tornadoes eventually retook the lead after back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Trey Barker and Massie, 52-51. The two teams alternated baskets over the next several minutes. Geneva never held the lead again, but the score was tied four separate times.
Pitt-Greensburg managed a six-point run midway through the half to take a 67-61 lead, and the Bobcat advantage fluctuated between two and nine points over the next several minutes, as the Golden Tornadoes could not come up with stops defensively. Trailing by nine points, 78-69, with seven minutes remaining, three-pointers from Triplett, Tipton and Massie allowed Geneva to close within 82-80 with three minutes left.
The Bobcats pushed the lead back to 85-80 with 1:36 left, but a layup from Massie, followed by a three-pointer from Barker with 30 seconds left, pulled Geneva even, 85-85. However, Pitt-Greensburg's Trent Rozich hit a shot in the paint with five seconds remaining, and an off-balanced three-point shot from Massie at the buzzer was off, giving the Golden Tornadoes its first defeat of the season, 87-85.
Massie was tremendous, finishing with a career-high 39 points while shooting 13-of-18 from the floor, 9-of-12 from three-point range, and 4-of-4 from the foul line. His nine three-pointers tied for the most in a single game in school history. Tipton and Triplett each added 13 points for the men, who shot 30-of-58 (52%) from the floor and an even better 17-of-30 (57%) from long range. The 17 three-pointers are tied for third in school history for a single game. Two big factors in the game were free throw shooting, where Pitt-Greensburg attempted 24 from the foul line compared to eight for Geneva, and turnovers, where the Golden Tornadoes turned it over 12 times, compared to just five for the Bobcats.
All five starters for Pitt-Greensburg scored in double figures in a very balanced attack. Rozich, who hit the game-winner, led the team with 19 points. The Bobcats shot 31-of-60 (52%) from the floor, 7-of-14 (50%) from three-point range, and 18-of-24 (75%) from the foul line.
"This was certainly a disappointing result for our guys," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We were certainly limited today missing two guys, and Ryan only played a little while battling an illness. Isaac was tremendous, but we have to be more balanced if we're going to be successful. And this was one of our worst defensive performances in recent memory. But give Pitt-Greensburg a lot of credit for that. They hit some tough shots, and they're a much better team than their record might indicate. The only good thing about today is this wasn't a conference game, but otherwise, it was a reminder to us that we have to be locked in every game if we expect to win."
Geneva will try to rebound on Wednesday when the men host Franciscan at 7:30 p.m. inside Metheny Fieldhouse.
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).
