BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In an atmosphere that hearkened back to the 1990's when Metheny Fieldhouse was packed for big rivalry games, Geneva and Saint Vincent battled in front of large and loud crowd on Saturday afternoon with first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) on the line. The Golden Tornadoes held a big lead for most of the game but had to hold off a late Bearcat rally to earn a 73-69 victory. The win, Geneva's 12th straight, improves Geneva's overall record to 20-2, 16-1 in the PAC and puts the men in great position to secure the top seed in the upcoming PAC Playoffs in two weeks. Saint Vincent, which has now lost three of its last four games after opening the season with 17 straight victories, dropped to 18-3 overall, 13-3 in the PAC.
Metheny Fieldhouse had an electric environment as the game got ready to start. Saint Vincent brought a large and vocal contingent of fans and students to support the Bearcats, while Geneva had one of its biggest turnouts of fan support in recent years. Saint Vincent had the better of the play early, though, making its first four shots to grab a 9-5 edge two and a half minutes into the game.
Senior Ryan Rachic responded with a jumper, and after a Bearcat free throw, junior Trevor Tipton knotted the score at 10-10 with a long three-pointer. A minute later, a three-point play by graduate student Isaac Massie gave Geneva its first lead of the game, and another bucket from Rachic pushed the Golden Tornado edge to 15-10. Geneva would actually never trail again.
The men slowly increased their lead throughout the rest of the half, with junior Payton Triplett providing much of the offense inside while the Geneva defense made life difficult for the Bearcats. A jumper from Massie extended the lead to 19-12 with nine minutes remaining, and the lead hovered between five and eight points for the next several minutes. The Golden Tornadoes eventually moved their edge into double digits, 33-23, on two free throws from Massie with a minute left in the half, and a three-point play from sophomore Jonathan Bertovich with six seconds remaining sent Geneva into the halftime break with a 36-25 lead. Triplett led the team with 11 points in the first half.
Massie provided much of the offense for Geneva early in the second half. Saint Vincent extended its defense to prevent Geneva's vaunted three-point shooters any space, so Massie took advantage with drives to the hoop for layups. A three-point play from Massie six minutes into the half gave the Golden Tornadoes a 45-33 edge.
The Geneva advantage stayed in double digits for the next ten minutes. The men had an answer for every Saint Vincent bucket. A layup from Tipton gave Geneva its biggest lead of the game, 61-45, with less than six minutes remaining. The men still looked to be in comfortable shape after a free throw from Massie gave the Golden Tornadoes a 65-50 lead with 3:12 left, but Saint Vincent rallied.
The Bearcats put on a fullcourt press, and the men struggled with the defensive pressure. Four Golden Tornado turnovers over the next two minutes allowed Saint Vincent to storm back into the game. A Bearcat bucket with a minute remaining pulled Saint Vincent within 65-59. Rachic hit two free throws in response, but the Bearcats kept pressing. Another turnover led to a Saint Vincent three-point play with seven seconds remaining, pulling the Bearcats within 72-69, but a free throw from Massie with two seconds left sealed the hard-fought victory, 73-69.
"What a great environment we had today," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "It reminded me of big games and big crowds from years past. I'm really proud of our guys and the way we played early, especially our defensive effort in the first half. Payton was key offensively in the first half, and Isaac was big in the second half. We were in full control until the last couple minutes when we were our own worst enemy at times. Too many turnovers and too many fouls. But we made our free throws down the stretch. Saint Vincent is a really good squad, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see them again in a couple of weeks."
Prior to the game, Geneva took the time to honor senior student-assistant coach Ethan Kerr, who has served within the men's program for the past four years.
"Ethan has meant so much to our program during his time at Geneva," said Santarsiero. "He's had a part of our success over the past four years, and we were happy to be able to honor him before the game."
Massie led all scorers with 21 points, including an 11-of-14 effort from the free throw line. Triplett added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while Rachic scored 15 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, to go with a team-best nine rebounds. As a team Geneva shot an impressive 26-of-47 (55.3%) from the floor, despite hitting just 2-of-13 (15.4%) from three-point range, the worst mark of the year for the Golden Tornadoes. The men were also strong from the line, converting 19-of-23 (82.6%) from the stripe. The one area where Geneva struggled was in taking care of the ball, as 21 GT turnovers allowed Saint Vincent to get back into the game.
Saint Vincent finished the game 24-of-67 (35.8%) from the floor, 2-of-17 (11.8%) from deep, and held a small edge on the boards, 34-32. The Bearcats committed just 10 turnovers. Dev Ostrowski led Saint Vincent with 20 points.
Geneva now has just three games left in the regular season and holds a two-game lead in the PAC standings. The men finish up road play this week with games at W&J on Wednesday and Bethany on Saturday. The men then return home for their final regular season game on Wednesday, February 14, against Westminster. The victory also secured Geneva's 20th win of the season, the first time the men have reached that mark since the 2000-01 season.
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