HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team didn't start well on Friday in its game against Mary Baldwin in the Juniata Doc Greene Holiday Tournament, falling behind by 19 points early in the second half. However, the Golden Tornadoes finally found their groove in storming back for a huge comeback, and graduate student Isaac Massie's two free throws with one second remaining capped off the massive comeback, 70-68. Geneva improves to 10-2 overall and advances to play in the championship game of the tournament tomorrow afternoon.
Geneva jumped ahead in the opening minute on a layup from Massie and a three-pointer from senior Ryan Rachic, but things quickly turned bad for the Golden Tornadoes. Mary Baldwin answered with a 14-2 as the men couldn't find any success offensively. A layup from Massie and a three-pointer from junior Trevor Tipton still couldn't get the team going.
Mary Baldwin used another big run, this one a 12-4 stretch, midway through the half to extend its lead to 28-16 with eight minutes remaining. The Fighting Squirrels eventually pushed their lead to 34-20, their biggest advantage of the first half, with four minutes left before Geneva closed with a small spurt. Junior Mark Rachic and Massie knocked down three-pointers to help the Golden Tornadoes pull within 36-28 at the break.
The first four minutes of the second half were even worse, though, for the men. Mary Baldwin scored the first eleven points of the half to take its biggest lead of the game, 47-28, putting the Golden Tornadoes in danger of getting blown out.
Tipton was fouled shooting a three-pointer on Geneva's next possession, knocking down all three free throws, and then junior Payton Triplett took over. He hit two free throws, drained a jumper and then knocked down a three-point shot over the next minute, and Tipton followed with a jumper to bring the deficit into single digits, 49-40, with 13 minutes left.
Mary Baldwin answered with a bucket, but Triplett drained another three-pointer, followed by a bucket from Mark Rachic, to pull Geneva within 51-45 and finish off the 17-4 run. The Fighting Squirrels scored the next three points, but the Golden Tornadoes kept surging back.
Ryan Rachic hit two free throws and a jumper, and Tipton followed with a bucket to pull Geneva within three points, 54-51. Mary Baldwin pushed the lead back to 60-53 with seven minutes left before the Golden Tornadoes hit three straight three-pointers, two from Tipton sandwiched around a long range shot from Ryan Rachic, to give Geneva its first lead since the opening minutes, 62-60, with four minutes left.
The score stayed close the rest of the way. Two free throws from Ryan Rachic with 1:54 remaining gave Geneva a 68-65 advantage, and both teams traded two empty possessions before Mary Baldwin's Quentin Hart scored at the hoop while being given a generous and-one opportunity, which he converted with 12 seconds remaining, to even the score at 68-68.
Geneva called timeout to set up a play, and with the final seconds winding down, Massie drove to the hoop and was fouled, giving the veteran two free throws with 1.0 seconds left. He knocked both shots down and a last-gasp long pass by Mary Baldwin went out of bounds giving the Golden Tornadoes the huge comeback victory, 70-68.
The men got most of their scoring from four players. Tipton led the team with 20 points, Ryan Rachic scored 18 points, Triplett added 14 points, all but two coming in the second half, and Massie chipped in with 11 points. After shooting just 37% in the first half, the men shot 54% in the second half to finish 25-of-56 (44.6%) for the game, including a 9-of-25 (36%) effort from long range. Geneva made 11-of-12 (91.7%) from the foul line, and the men needed all of them, including Massie's game-winning free throws.
Mary Baldwin was led by Vernon Fraley, who tied Tipton with a game-high 20 points. The Fighting Squirrels shot 27-of-53 (51.9%) from the floor, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from deep. Mary Baldwin held a 33-28 rebounding advantage but committed 18 turnovers, compared to 12 for Geneva.
"It was a tale of two halves today," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We came out very rusty in the first half and played poorly, but give Mary Baldwin credit for some of that. They're a quality team and they were the better team early on. We finally got things turned around in the second half. Payton was the difference maker for us early in the half, and once he got going, the rest of the team seemed to feed off him. We're now looking forward to playing in the championship game tomorrow, and hopefully we'll put together a much better effort over 40 minutes."
Geneva will face Juniata, who defeated Penn College in the other game of the opening day of the tournament, at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow in the championship game of the holiday tournament.
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).
