GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team earned an impressive victory at rival Grove City on Wednesday night in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener for both teams, leading almost the entire game in securing a 64-52 win over the Wolverines.  Geneva evened its overall record to 4-4 on the season, 1-0 in PAC play.

Grove City actually scored the first five points of the contest before a bucket from senior Nick Million and a three-pointer and another basket from senior Trey Barker gave Geneva its first lead of the night, 7-5, five minutes into the game.

The teams exchanged the lead over the next several minutes before a basket from senior Jonathan Bertovich gave the Golden Tornadoes a lead, 20-19, that they ultimately would never relinquish.

Geneva steadily increased its advantage over the next several minutes, and two buckets from sophomore Tommy Coletti sandwiched around a Million jumper gave the men their first double-digit lead of the game, 33-23, with just over a minute left in the half.  Grove City answered with two quick baskets, but another three-pointer from Barker sent Geneva into the break with a 36-27 lead.

Grove City scored the first bucket of the second half, but a three-pointer from Bertovich, a three-point play from Coletti, and then a steal and a dunk in transition just a few seconds later by Coletti gave Geneva its biggest lead of the game, 44-29, just four minutes into the half.

However, Grove City responded by slowly cutting into the Geneva advantage, and a three-pointer midway through the half pulled the Wolverines within 48-44 after a 15-4 Grove City stretch.

A layup from senior Alec Srock ended the run, and after a bucket from Grove City, back-to-back three-pointers from Million and Bertovich pushed the Geneva lead back to double digits, 56-46, with seven minutes left.

The win didn't come easily, though, as Geneva did not score over the next four minutes, allowing Grove City to pull within 56-52.  However, the Golden Tornadoes made their free throws down the stretch, holding Grove City scoreless over the final three minutes of the game in closing out the game with eight straight points for the 64-52 victory.

"I'm just really proud of our guys tonight," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We executed the game plan really well, and we were really balanced offensively, which makes us tough to defend.  I thought we got a little tired late and that allowed Grove City to get back into the game, but we came up with the key plays late to seal the victory.  Any time you can get a win up here is a good night."

Bertovich led four players in double figures with a game-high 17 points.  Coletti added 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career.  Barker and Million each added 12 points for the Golden Tornadoes, who shot 22-of-64 (34.4%) from the floor, 7-of-20 (35%) from three-point range.  The men also turned the ball over just five times, compared to 15 turnovers from Grove City.

Kyle Randle led Grove City with 12 points, while the Wolverines shot 19-of-57 (33.3%) from the floor, 7-of-26 (26.9%) from three-point range.

Geneva will try to make it two straight victories to open PAC play when the men host Allegheny on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.