BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The season is only two weeks old, but it's been a battle of attrition so far for the Geneva College men's basketball team, and the Golden Tornadoes had to battle through more adversity on Tuesday night.  However, the Golden Tornadoes persevered through that adversity for a 72-59 victory over Thiel on Tuesday night inside Metheny Fieldhouse.  The win gives the men their first win of the season and evens their record in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play at 1-1.

Thiel scored the opening bucket of the game before Geneva reeled off ten straight points.  Graduate student Ryan Rachic hit a jumper, his brother senior Mark Rachic knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a three-pointer and two free throws from senior Payton Triplett. 

However, foul trouble became an issue, with both Triplett and Ryan Rachic picking up two early fouls, forcing Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero to go deep into his bench for most of the first half, with Geneva already playing without senior Trevor Tipton and junior Trey Barker. 

The quick start gave the men an early cushion, and the Golden Tornadoes got some good minutes from graduate student KC Johns, junior Alec Srock and freshman Tommy Coletti off the bench to keep Geneva ahead.  The Tomcats closed within two points, 23-21, with five minutes left in the half before Coletti hit a jumper and a three-pointer on back-to-back possession to push the lead back to seven points.  Another three-pointer from Coletti with four seconds left in the half gave the men a 37-29 advantage heading into the break.

Geneva came out cold to start the second half, though, and Thiel took advantage.  The Tomcats opened final period on a 12-2 run to take their first lead since the opening minute of the game, 41-39, at 13:48.  Mark Rachic responded on Geneva's next possession with a three-pointer, and the lead went back-and-forth over the next five minutes, with a jumper from Thiel knotting the score at 52-52 with 8:33 left.

Junior Brayden Costea hit a layup on Geneva's next possession to start a run for the Golden Tornadoes, with Geneva using a zone defense to stymie the Tomcat offense.  The men scored 12 straight points to create some separation.  After Costea's layup, Coletti scored at the rim, Ryan Rachic grabbed a miss and scored, junior Jonathan Bertovich scored in transition, Srock hit a layup and Rachic scored again to give Geneva a 64-52 lead with 4:46 remaining

Thiel never threatened again as the Golden Tornadoes pushed their lead as high as 72-56 on two free throws from Ryan Rachic before finishing off the much-needed 72-59 win.

Mark Rachic led the team with 16 points, while Ryan Rachic was right behind with his second straight double-double, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Johns and Coletti each added ten points, while Srock chipped in with eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 effort from the floor.  Geneva finished the game shooting 23-of-49 (46.9%) from the floor, 6-of-18 (33.3%) from three-point range.  The men held a big advantage on the boards, 42-30, including 14 offensive rebounds leading to 12 second-chance points.

"This was a really, really, gutsy win tonight," said Santarsiero.  "We worked through a lot of adversity tonight, which seems to be the theme of the year with injuries and foul trouble.  This group stuck together, though, and Mark was the guy that led the way.  He's really been our best player so far this year.  Ryan gave us a lift in the second half as well, and then we got production from several guys off our bench that stepped up.  KC gave us a spark, Alec played probably his best game at Geneva, Tommy was really key, and we pulled out a win against a tough Thiel squad.  We're going to enjoy a couple days off for Thanksgiving now before getting ready for a non-conference game on Saturday."

Thiel's Gabriel Gonzalez led four Tomcats in double figures with 12 points.  Thiel finished the game just 23-of-63 (36.5%) from the floor, 2-of-16 (12.5%) from three-point range.

Geneva will head to Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.  Tonight's game wraps up a four-game homestand to start the season, and the men will now play six of their next seven games on the road.