BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva men's basketball team got a much-needed win on the road against Thiel Wednesday night, defeating the Tomcats 64-41. Defense was the name of the game for the Golden Tornadoes, as the men held Thiel to just 18 first half points and 7% shooting from three-point range. With the win, Geneva now sits at 7-9 overall, 5-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), and the men put an end to their three-game losing streak. Thiel, on the flip side, falls to 6-10 overall, 5-7 in PAC play.

Neither team could score for the first two minutes of the game, until finally freshman Tommy Coletti hit a mid-range jumper to get Geneva on the board. After two Thiel free throws, graduate student KC Johns nailed a three-pointer and graduate student Ryan Rachic put back his own miss on a short jumper to make it 7-2 in favor of the Golden Tornadoes. Seniors Mark Rachic and Trevor Tipton then nailed back-to-back threes to give the men an early double-digit lead, 13-2, six minutes in.

Solid defense by the men prevented Thiel from hitting a field goal until the 7:50 mark, at which point the Golden Tornadoes had built up a 24-5 lead, thanks in large part to some good ball movement on the offensive end. The Tomcats appeared to get their feet back under them for a few possessions, but an and-1 basket from Tipton allowed the men to stay in control. Mark Rachic and junior Alec Srock each hit jump shots to push the GTs' lead up to 20 points, 31-10, but the Tomcats managed to end the half on an 8-2 run over the final three minutes to close the gap to 15 points heading into the break.

There was not much to separate the two sides to start the second half. Tipton pushed Geneva's lead back up to 19 points with a mid-range jumper at the 18:47 mark of the second half, but Thiel came right back to make it a 13-point game on a three-point shot from Rob Thomas. The difference stayed at about that margin for the next several minutes, before both teams went cold from the floor between the 13:00 and 11:00 minute marks.

At that point, Srock used a nice pivot move to score in the paint, and a couple of possessions later Tipton stuck a deep three-pointer. Tipton then got fouled on a three-point attempt and sunk all three free throws to give Geneva a 20-point lead again, 51-31. Thiel could not mount a comeback at that point, and the men cruised the rest of the way to a 64-41 victory.

It was an evenly balanced scoring attack for the Golden Tornadoes, with Tipton (14 points) Ryan Rachic (13) and Mark Rachic (11) leading the way. Ryan Rachic also corralled eight rebounds, while Mark Rachic dished out three assists. Coletti led the team in rebounds with nine. As a team, the men shot 25-for-62 (40%) from the field, 6-of-19 (32%) from distance, but they held the Tomcats to just 24% from the field and outscored them in the paint 32-16.

"Super proud of the guys and the way they played tonight," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero after the game. "We came out and established ourselves early, which is something we haven't done well all year. The guys had a great energy, and they stayed focused the whole time. We made some shots early, and that helped us find our rhythm for the rest of the game. They stayed locked in even when Thiel cut it to 13, and I couldn't be prouder of them."

The men will look to make it two wins in a row when they travel to Waynesburg on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off. The Yellow Jackets won the meeting between the two schools earlier this season, 65-62.

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).