BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Geneva picked up its eleventh straight win this evening against the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets in a battle of the top two defensive teams in the President's Athletic Conference, as another balanced offensive performance propelled the Golden Tornadoes to a 67-57 victory. Geneva's record continues to improve, and the men now stand at 19-2 on the season, 15-2 in conference play. Meanwhile, Waynesburg is now 10-8 overall, 7-8 in the PAC.
Waynesburg likes to play basketball in the paint, and they got to the rim early against Geneva, going up 4-0 on a couple of good looks close to the basket. The Golden Tornadoes were able to counter that with back-to-back triples from sophomore Jonathan Bertovich, which set the stage early for the men to have a big half shooting the ball. The two teams traded punches for a little bit before a three from junior Payton Triplett put Geneva in front 16-14, a basket that ended up starting a 17-1 run for the Golden Tornadoes in which junior Mark Rachic knocked down three three-point attempts in a row. Geneva controlled the rest of the half, taking a 38-22 lead into the break.
Despite their best efforts, the Yellow Jackets could not find a breakthrough against Geneva in the second half, as stifling defense from every GT player made it very difficult for Waynesburg to score. The Jackets briefly cut the deficit to 12 points early in the second frame, but buckets on back-to-back possessions from senior Ryan Rachic and junior Trevor Tipton put the Golden Tornadoes back up 45-28. Geneva continued to dominate throughout the second half, going up by as many as 22 points. Sloppy play by the GTs toward the very end allowed Waynesburg to cut the deficit to ten, but Geneva was able to hold the Yellow Jackets there and take the victory 67-57.
Triplett led the men in scoring for the third straight game, putting up 17 points to go along with four rebounds and two blocks. Ryan Rachic also had a good stat line, scoring 13 points and recording four assists. Tipton contributed ten points, and graduate student Isaac Massie led the team in both rebounds and assists with seven and eight, respectively. Geneva shot 13-of-31 overall from three-point-land, including 10-of-17 in the first half.
"A good, gutsy win for us again," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "Waynesburg has been playing better, coming off a good win over Saint Vincent. We knew it was going to be a good challenge, and we shot it well early, including Mark hitting three straight threes. Everyone fed off of that a little bit. In the second half, we got a little sloppy, but we had a good lead, so even though we didn't finish the way we'd like to, it was a good win for us overall that sets us up for a big game on Saturday."
Geneva remains at home for Saturday's game against Saint Vincent, the only team in the PAC to hand the GTs a loss this season. The winner of Saturday's game would hold the advantage for the top seed in the upcoming PAC playoffs.
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).
