BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team left no doubt who the best team in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) was on Saturday night in the PAC Championship game, leading almost the whole way in a convincing 83-63 victory over second-seeded Saint Vincent, claiming its first PAC Championship in front of a massive crowd inside Metheny Fieldhouse. The Golden Tornadoes improved to 24-3 with the victory and earned the PAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Geneva will find out its destination on Monday.
Geneva and Saint Vincent entered Saturday's championship tilt as the clear two best teams in the PAC, despite both narrowly making it out of the PAC Semifinals. The two teams split their regular season contests, with Saint Vincent winning by two in Latrobe on a last-second tip-in, while Geneva held serve at home three weeks ago with a four-point victory. The only difference was an extra loss by the Bearcats, which allowed the Golden Tornadoes to secure the top seed for the PAC playoffs and guarantee Geneva the ability to host the championship game.
The only part of the game that didn't go Geneva's way on the night was the opening three minutes. Geneva opened the game with three missed shots and three turnovers, and three minutes into the game Saint Vincent led 6-0. And that proved to be the highlight of the night for the Bearcats.
Senior Ryan Rachic finally got Geneva on the board with a layup, and it kick-started a huge 20-2 run for the Golden Tornadoes over the next nine minutes. Graduate student Isaac Massie followed with a layup after a Rachic steal, and then sophomore Jonathan Bertovich started to put his stamp on the game with a three-pointer, in what would prove to be a career night for the dynamic guard, which gave Geneva its first lead of the game, 7-6. That would end up being the only lead change on the night.
Junior Mark Rachic, who also had a career night for the Golden Tornadoes, followed with a layup, and then Bertovich got to the rim and scored to make it 11-6 Geneva. The Bearcats answered with their only bucket of that nine-minute stretch, but it did little to slow down the Golden Tornado onslaught.
Bertovich hit a layup on Geneva's next possession, and then after a Bearcat miss, Bertovich knocked down another triple, pushing him into double digits just eight minutes into the game. Ryan Rachic hit a jumper a minute later, and then Massie added a bucket to cap off the massive run, and suddenly Geneva led by double digits, 20-8.
Saint Vincent did battle back over the next five minutes, pulling within 29-24 with three minutes left in the half, but it was that guy again, Bertovich, who answered with another three-pointer. Saint Vincent tried to stay close, though, with a Taylor McNeal three-pointer closing the Bearcats within 34-30 with 1:28 left.
Geneva closed the half with a flurry, though. Junior Trevor Tipton hit a jumper, Ryan Rachic converted a three-point play at the rim, and Mark Rachic knocked down two late free throws to send the Golden Tornadoes into the break leading 41-30. Geneva shot an impressive 14-of-21 (66.7%) from the floor, 3-of-5 (60%) from the three-point line, and 10-of-11 (90.9%) from the foul line in the opening half.
Saint Vincent began the second half with a bucket to cut its deficit under double digits, but that would be the last time the Bearcats looked up at the scoreboard and saw a single-digit Geneva lead. Ryan Rachic followed with a layup, and the Golden Tornadoes never let Saint Vincent get close again.
The Geneva lead hovered between 10 to 14 points over the next several minutes. Bertovich hit another three-pointer to push the Golden Tornado lead to 55-41, and after a Saint Vincent jumper, a dunk by Mark Rachic in transition electrified the huge crowd. The junior added another layup on Geneva's next possession to extend the Geneva lead to the biggest of the game up to that point, 59-43, with 11:02 remaining.
Saint Vincent hung close enough for a while to keep the Golden Tornadoes from running away with the game, pulling within 65-53 with five minutes left. At that point, though, Geneva put the game away.
Rachic added back-to-back buckets to his tally, and then Massie knocked down a three-pointer, followed by two free throws, to put the game out of reach, 74-53, with three minutes left. All that was left was to determine the final margin of victory. The moment the final buzzer sounded, the students rushed the floor to celebrate the 83-63 championship win.
Geneva, the top shooting team in the PAC all season, saved maybe its best offensive performance of the year for its biggest game of the season. The Golden Tornadoes finished 32-of-50 (64%) from the floor, 7-of-12 (58.3%) from three-point range, and 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the foul line.
Bertovich led the team with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-5 effort from three-point range, while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Mark Rachic added a career-high 18 points, along with six rebounds. Ryan Rachic finished with 15 points, Massie added 13 points and Tipton 11 points in the balanced offensive attack. Massie was named the PAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Mark and Ryan Rachic were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
"This has been an historic year for us, and I'm so happy for the guys," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "Other than the opening couple minutes, we executed our game plan almost perfectly. The guys were ready to go and were prepared to achieve what we've been working towards all season. We were obviously very good offensively tonight, but our defense really locked down the top scoring team in the PAC, and that was just as much a part of our success as our offense was."
Geneva's defense held Saint Vincent to 23-of-62 (37.1%) shooting from the floor, including 4-of-12 (33.3%) from deep, while holding the Bearcats 20 points below their season average. Saint Vincent was led by Dev Ostrowski's 21 points.
"JB (Bertovich) was so key early," added Santarsiero. "He really sparked us in that first half, and then Mark was huge in the second half. Mark has been so good for us the last two weeks, and he was unbelievable tonight, just like JB was. And the rest of the guys all played their part. So, we're all excited for what's next. This is all gravy for us now. This is the fun part, and now we're heading on to the NCAA Tournament."
The NCAA will announce the Division III bracket on Monday at 1:00 p.m. on its website, which is when Geneva will learn its first-round destination. The first round starts on Friday, March 1.
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).
