BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team put together one of its best defensive efforts in recent memory on Saturday afternoon, dominating the visiting Allegheny Gators inside Metheny Fieldhouse and running away with for an impressive 77-42 win.  The Golden Tornadoes stayed perfect in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), giving Geneva a 5-0 record in the PAC, with all five wins coming by double digits.  The men are 7-1 overall, while Allegheny dropped to 3-5 overall, 2-2 in the PAC.

Neither team could find the range early, while sophomore Jonathan Bertovich provided the Golden Tornadoes with their only two buckets over the first five minutes, both three-pointers.  Almost six minutes into the game, the score was tied at 6-6.

Geneva's offense began to find the range midway through the first half, though.  Leading 12-10, senior Ryan Rachic and graduate student Isaac Massie hit jumpers.  Then junior Trevor Tipton got hot from outside.  He drained back-to-back three-pointers, the last while being fouled, and he knocked down the resulting free throw to cap 11 straight points for the Golden Tornadoes.  The suffocating Geneva defense never gave Allegheny a chance to get back into the game.

Four minutes later, Tipton again knocked-down back-to-back three-pointers, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 33-15 lead, and the game was never in doubt again.  Geneva took a 33-18 lead into the break, led by 13 points from Tipton.

If Allegheny had any hopes of a comeback, they were dashed quickly.  Bertovich opened the second half with another three-pointer.  Three minutes later, back-to-back three-pointers from Rachic and Tipton pushed the Geneva lead over 20 points, 44-23, and the three-pointers kept coming, while Allegheny had no answer for the Geneva defense.

Massie hit a three-pointer a moment later, and midway through the second half, a three-pointer from sophomore Trey Barker, followed by a dunk down the lane from junior Mark Rachic, pushed the Golden Tornado lead over 30 points, 58-27.

Geneva pushed its lead as high as 70-34 on a three-pointer from sophomore Brayden Costea with four minutes remaining, as Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero used the big lead to get his bench some extended minutes.  Eleven different Golden Tornadoes scored as Geneva closed out the 77-42 victory.

Ryan Rachic led the offense with 21 points, while grabbing 12 rebounds.  Tipton made five three-pointers and finished with 16 points, while Massie also reached double figures with 10 points.  Geneva took tremendous care of the ball, finishing with just four turnovers, two of which came in the closing minutes, while the Golden Tornadoes forced 22 Gator turnovers.

Geneva shot just 28-of-73 (38.4%) from the floor but were again impressive from long range, hitting 14-of-32 (43.8%) from deep.  The men are now hitting 43.2% of their three-pointers as a team, which is now tops in all of NCAA Division III as of Saturday.

Allegheny shot just 13-of-47 (27.7%) from the floor and 3-of-20 (15%) from three-point range.  Andre Wilder led the Gators with 10 points.

"That was one of the best defensive performances we've had here in a long time," said Santarsiero.  "I was just so impressed with the way we defended today.  Allegheny came in averaging over 80 points per game, and we didn't give them any open looks and really guarded them all game.  Offensively, Trevor got us going in the first half, and then Ryan had a big second half.  I'm really happy for the guys, who had two great days of practice leading into this game.  Now we get ready for one of our toughest weeks of the season."

The men do have a big week coming up.  They head to Waynesburg on Wednesday, who defeated W&J last week and dropped a heartbreaker to Saint Vincent on Saturday, and then Geneva travels to Saint Vincent on Saturday to take on the undefeated Bearcats.

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).