BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team knew it would have a battle on its hands when Chatham came to Metheny Fieldhouse on Wednesday night, and that's exactly what the Cougars gave the Golden Tornadoes before Geneva earned a hard-fought 79-68 win. The victory, Geneva's seventh straight, is the most wins in a row since the 2002-03 season when the Golden Tornadoes won nine straight. Geneva improved to 15-2, 11-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), and now is in great shape to earn one of the two byes in the PAC Playoffs. Chatham fell to 10-7, 8-4 in the PAC.
Geneva opened with buckets from junior Trevor Tipton and senior Ryan Rachic before running into some problems. Four Golden Tornado turnovers over the next four minutes allowed Chatham to answer with a 9-2 run to take the lead.
The Golden Tornadoes responded right back, though. Graduate student Isaac Massie hit a layup, Rachic scored in the paint, and junior Payton Triplett hit back-to-back buckets to cap off an eight-point run and allow Geneva to take the lead back, 14-9. The Golden Tornadoes would ultimately never relinquish that lead.
The men did have to work around a couple of early fouls by Rachic that caused him to spend most of the first half on the bench, totaling just over five minutes of game action. Despite playing most of the half without their second-leading scorer, the Golden Tornadoes continued to extend their lead. A three-point play from Tipton with 8:34 remaining in the half extended the Geneva edge to 23-14, as the Golden Tornado defense really held Chatham's high-powered offense in check.
A layup from Triplett with 3:15 left in the half gave Geneva its first double-digit lead of the game, 33-23, before Chatham closed within 35-27 at the break. Triplett led the offense with 11 points in the first half.
Rachic made an immediate impact when he returned to the court to start the second half, hitting a three-pointer on the opening possession. Two minutes later, a jumper from Massie gave the men what would prove to be their biggest lead of the game, 42-30.
Chatham wouldn't go away though. The Cougars hit four three-pointers in a row, sandwiched around a couple Geneva buckets, to close within 46-41 five minutes into the half. Massie and Triplett answered with buckets to push the lead back to nine points.
The next several minutes saw the two teams trading baskets, mostly in the paint. Chatham cut the Geneva lead to three points twice midway through the half, the last of the two at 57-54 with 9:22 remaining. However, on Geneva's next possession Tipton drained a deep corner three-pointer while being fouled, and he converted the four-point play to give the men a little more cushion.
Chatham continued to find success in the paint, though, eventually cutting the lead back down to three points, 64-61 with 6:46 left, but again, the Cougars could not get any closer. Geneva always had an answer in response to Chatham's comeback attempts. The key stretch came with just under five minutes remaining when the Golden Tornadoes put together an 8-2 run, six of the points coming from Massie, to give Geneva a 74-65 advantage with 2:26 left, and Chatham got no closer than six points the rest of the way. The men scored the final five points of the game to secure another double-digit PAC victory, 79-68.
Massie, Rachic, Tipton and Triplett scored 68 of Geneva's 79 points. Tipton finished with a game-high 21 points, on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Massie scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Triplett added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while Rachic totaled 12 points in just 19 foul-plagued minutes, while shooting 5-of-8. Those four combined to shoot 26-of-33 (79%) from the floor. As a team, Geneva shot 29-of-43 (67%) from the floor, while attempting a season-low six three-pointers, which the Golden Tornadoes hit four. The men also made 17-of-20 (85%) from the foul line, making the game one of the most efficient offensive performances in recent history. Massie and Triplett led the team with seven rebounds apiece, while the Golden Tornadoes tied their season-high with nine blocks, including four by Triplett.
Chatham was led by Diaun Pinkett's 20 points. The Cougars shot 27-of-64 (42%) from the floor, 7-of-22 (32%) from three-point range. While the two teams finished even in rebounds at 27-27, the Cougars did hurt the Golden Tornadoes on the offensive boards, finishing with a 16-3 edge.
"This was a really gutsy performance by us tonight," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "Ryan got in foul trouble early, but guys stepped up. I thought we really kept our composure for most of the game. It was a very physical game, and every time they made a run, we always had an answer, and we got stops late when we needed them. That's a really good team, so this is a good win for us. Our top four guys really led us tonight, and in these types of games, you need your veterans to step up, and they did tonight."
Geneva will now turn its attention to rival Grove City, who arrives to Metheny Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff. The game is Geneva's annual Pack-The-Gym game, encouraging Geneva fans to show up in numbers for the game.
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).
