DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second night in a row the Geneva men's basketball team played an extremely close contest down at the Daytona Beach Shootout, and for the second night in a row they came away with a win. Tonight, against Lasell University, the GTs used a scrappy second half performance to achieve a 63-61 win, securing their third consecutive victory in the process. Their record now improves to 5-6 overall, 3-3 in conference play, while Lasell drops to 7-3 on the season.

After the Lasers began action with a made basket, junior Jonathan Bertovich responded by drilling a three-pointer to give the Golden Tornadoes an early lead. Points were traded back-and-forth between the two sides for the next five minutes, before a three from sophomore Ryan Edwards gave the men an 11-8 lead. A 9-3 run by the Lasers put them back in control, but Geneva responded with seven consecutive points on a three-pointer by graduate student KC Johns and back-to-back jumpers from senior Mark Rachic.

Lasell made a jump shot with 7:16 to play to pull within 21-19, and for the following six minutes neither side was able to take more than a two-point lead. Junior Nick Million stuck a jumper to knot the score at 30 apiece with 1:38 to play in the first half, but the Lasers closed the period on a 7-0 run to take a 37-30 lead into the break, the largest advantage for either team to that point.

Coming out of halftime, the Lasers got a couple of early buckets to quickly push their lead up to 11 points. Geneva bent, but didn't break as the men used a Bertovich trey and layup in close from Mark Rachic to pull back within six, 45-39. A lay-in by junior Alec Srock with 14:40 to go in the game jump-started a short 6-0 run for the GTs, and some lockdown defense over the next four minutes kept Lasell off the board for that duration and shifted the momentum back in favor of Geneva.

Lasell clung to a slim six-point lead with ten minutes to play, but the Golden Tornadoes played very aggressively and kept within striking distance. With Geneva trailing by three points, graduate student Ryan Rachic suddenly caught fire from distance, knocking down three three-pointers in a row to give the men their first lead of the half, 56-55, with 5:39 remaining. Each team got a basket, and an almost three-minute scoreless drought ensued during which neither team seemed to be able to seize control.

Finally, Ryan Rachic scored in close to the rim to put Geneva in front by three points, and a dagger three-pointer from Bertovich with 11 seconds to play gave the men a commanding four-point lead. Lasell scored once more, but it wasn't enough as Geneva closed out the game and took the victory 63-61.

Both Rachic brothers had solid performances for Geneva, with each scoring 15 points and Ryan securing the double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. Bertovich also played well, finishing with nine points on 3-of-6 three-point shooting and a team-high five assists and three steals. As a team, Geneva shot 25-of-51 (49%) from the field, 9-of-23 (39%) from distance, while Lasell struggled from behind the arc, going just 1-for-13 (8%) from three-point land. The top scorers for the Lasers were Che Hanks and Andy Madesko, who finished with 13 points apiece.

Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero was very happy after the win, saying – "The kids fought hard. Lasell is a very, very talented team, they were 7-2 coming into this game. We battled with them, and when we got down ten points in the second half, I could just see that the guys had gotten a special look in their eye. Mark and Ryan made some critical shots, and we got stops when it mattered most, which is how you beat good teams. We'll enjoy this win and enjoy our time off for the break."

The Golden Tornadoes will not return to action until January, when they resume Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play against Westminster on Saturday, January 4^th, at 3:00 PM.

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).