BETHANY, W. Va. – The Geneva College men's basketball team rebounded in a big way from their streak-breaking overtime loss on Wednesday night with a dominant victory over the Bethany College Bison, 101-83. The Golden Tornadoes got a lead early and never looked back, and the 101 points is their highest mark of the season. The win pushes their record to 21-3 overall, 17-2 in conference play. Bethany drops to 8-15 overall, 7-11 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).
Senior Ryan Rachic got things started off on the right foot for the men by knocking down a three-pointer on the opening possession. This would be a sign of things to come, as Rachic scored 12 of Geneva's first 14 points. Although the Bison had stuck with the GTs while Rachic was shooting well, as soon as other members of the Golden Tornadoes squad got involved offensively, Bethany began to lose ground. Geneva went on a 12-0 run, capped by a nice layup from junior Mark Rachic, to take a 24-11 lead, and the GTs were able to hold that margin for the next few minutes.
About midway through the first half the teams started trading baskets, and the men couldn't seem to break the game open until 12 minutes into the half. At that point, another bucket from Ryan Rachic started another 12-0 Golden Tornadoes run, which was finished off by back-to-back threes from sophomore Jonathan Bertovich and Mark Rachic. Bethany attempted to cut into the deficit before the end of the half, and even hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer, but Geneva still took a commanding 55-38 lead into the break.
The two teams went back and forth for the first few minutes of the second half, but then back-to-back threes from junior Payton Triplett and Bertovich brought Geneva's advantage into the twenties again. Junior Trevor Tipton made it a 29-point lead on a three-pointer with 12 minutes to play, 78-49. Hot shooting by Tipton, who hit all five of his three-pointers in the second half, and Bertovich kept the Golden Tornadoes' lead above 20 for almost the entire rest of the game, and the Bison could not seem to stop Geneva's offense on the perimeter. The GTs ended up taking the victory 101-83.
It was a big day offensively for the men, with five players scoring in double figures. Ryan Rachic led the GTs with 28 points, followed by Tipton with 22, Mark Rachic with 17, Bertovich with 16, and Triplett with ten. Tipton shot 7-of-10 from three-point range to get back to his sharpshooting ways, and Mark Rachic's 17 points tied his career-high. Graduate student Isaac Massie dished out 11 assists in the game as well, which was a career-high for him. Tipton had a team-high nine rebounds in the win.
"Today was just a tremendous all-around effort by our guys," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "I thought we really established ourselves well early both offensively and defensively, which allowed us to get out to a big early lead. Trevor and JB really shot it well, and then the Rachics were very good. Ryan was almost unstoppable in the first half, and Mark gave us great minutes off the bench. So I'm happy for our guys to bounce back from Wednesday, and now we need to refocus for Westminster so we can close out the regular season strong."
Geneva has one more regular season game left to play, on Wednesday at home against Westminster. A win in that game would solidify Geneva's place as the #1 seed in the PAC playoffs. As it stands, Geneva controls the #1 seed currently, while St. Vincent still has a small chance at the top seed.
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).
