BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – After an offensive struggle in the first half saw the Geneva College men's basketball team fall down by double digits in the first half of its home game with Allegheny on Wednesday night, the Golden Tornadoes put together one of their best offensive halves in recent memory in the second half to overtake Allegheny, 83-74.  Geneva has now won three in a row and improved to 9-9 overall, 7-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

Senior Trevor Tipton opened the game with a three-pointer on the night he was recognized for surpassing 1,000 career points prior to the tipoff, and senior Mark Rachic hit a layup to give Geneva an early 5-0 advantage before the GT offense came to a halt. 

Allegheny responded to the early deficit with a flurry from three-point range, and over the next seven minutes the Gators outscored Geneva 18-5 to grab an 18-10 edge.  Geneva battled back to pull even at 23-23 behind the play of freshman Tommy Coletti, but the men once again went cold.

Allegheny followed with a 12-1 run to grab a 35-24 lead with one minute remaining before halftime.  However, Coletti converted a three-point play, and then Rachic knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to pull Geneva within 35-30 at the break.

The Gators continued to drain outside shots early in the second half, particularly from Luke Barker, who came in as the leading scorer in the PAC.  Geneva countered with its own outside shooting behind graduate student Ryan Rachic, but the Gators, primarily Barker, always seemed to have an answer.  When James Sitter knocked down Allegheny's eleventh three-pointer of the game eight minutes into the second half, the Gators pushed their lead back to double digits, 56-46.

Mark Rachic followed with a three-pointer on Geneva's next possession that sparked a quick nine-point burst, with the Rachic brothers adding baskets sandwiched around a jumper from junior Nick Million, pulling Geneva within one point, 56-55.  Barker answered with another three-pointer, but the Golden Tornadoes never let up their offensive onslaught.

Three minutes later, Geneva pulled even at 61-61, and after a Gator bucket, Ryan Rachic connected from three-point range with seven minutes left to give the Golden Tornadoes their first lead, 64-63, since the opening minutes of the game.

Allegheny's Sitter followed with his sixth triple of the game, but Tipton answered with back-to-back three-pointers, and Geneva never trailed again.  Barker kept the Gators within striking distance, but the Golden Tornadoes had an answer for every Allegheny bucket down the stretch, eventually pulling away for the 83-74 win.

"This was a big win for us, one we really needed to get," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero.  "After laboring in the first half, we played about as well offensively as we could have in the second half, and then we got stops down the stretch that allowed us to pull away at the end.  Tommy really sparked us early and kept up afloat, and then our veterans, led by Ryan, led us to victory.  I don't think we could have shot the ball any better than we did in the second 20 minutes, and we needed just about all of them with the way Allegheny was shooting tonight."

Ryan Rachic led the attack with 29 points and eight rebounds, shooting 11-of-16 from the floor, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the foul line.  Mark Rachic stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.  Coletti also added 16 points, while Tipton finished with 13 points.  Geneva shot an amazing 22-of-28 (78.8%) from the floor in the second half, including 6-of-9 from three-point range, finishing the game with impressive shooting totals of 33-of-53 (62.3%) from the floor, 9-of-21 (42.9%) from deep.

Barker and Sitter did most of the damage for Allegheny in the game, with Barker matching Ryan Rachic's total of 29 points, while Sitter finished with 21 points.  The Gators shot 24-of-53 (45.3%) from the floor, including a 13-of-28 (46.4%) performance from deep, while knocking down 13-of-14 from the foul line.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Golden Tornadoes, who face Saint Vincent next on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. inside Metheny Fieldhouse.