NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team picked up a significant road win on Wednesday night at rival Westminster, pulling out a tight game late, 73-67.  Not only does the victory put the Golden Tornadoes in great position to qualify for the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs, but the win also gave Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero his 400^th career win at the helm of the Geneva program.  The men are now 11-11 overall, 9-8 in the PAC.

Westminster opened the game with four quick points, but back-to-back layups from senior Mark Rachic, followed by a bucket from graduate student KC Johns, gave Geneva its first lead of the game, 6-5.

Four minutes later, back-to-back three-pointers from junior Nick Million gave Geneva its biggest advantage of the game to that point, 16-11.  The Golden Tornadoes held a small lead for most of the rest of the half, but the lead hovered primarily between one and four points over the final 12 minutes of the period.

Two free throws from Rachic pushed the lead back to five points, 33-28, with two minutes left, but the Titans scored the next six points to retake the lead.  However, graduate student Ryan Rachic hit a bucket in the closing seconds to give Geneva a slim 35-34 lead going into halftime.

Senior Trevor Tipton opened the second half with a three-pointer, which Westminster quickly answered with a triple of its own.  Ryan Rachic followed with another three-pointer, the third made three-pointer in the opening 50 seconds of the half, and then Rachic added another bucket to push the Geneva edge to 43-37.

Westminster, who came into the game as one of the hotter teams in the conference, including back-to-back road wins at Saint Vincent and Waynesburg over the past week, never let Geneva stretch its lead any further, though.  The Titans closed within one point, 54-53, midway through the second half before two free throws from Rachic, followed by another three-pointer from Tipton, pushed the margin back to six points, 59-53. 

The Geneva advantage hovered between two to five points over the next seven minutes before a Westminster bucket with three minutes left cut the Golden Tornado lead back down to one point, 65-64.  Rachic followed with a huge three-pointer on Geneva's next possession, though, and after a defensive stop, Rachic was fouled and knocked down two free throws to push the lead back to 70-64 with 1:53 left. 

Westminster never got the deficit under four points over the final two minutes, with the Golden Tornadoes knocking down enough free throws late, while forcing two key Titan turnovers, to secure the victory, 73-67.

Ryan Rachic had the big game for Geneva, finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds.  Million, Tipton and Mark Rachic each added 11 points as four different Golden Tornadoes finished in double figures, with Mark Rachic also contributing eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.  As a team Geneva shot 26-of-61 (42.6%) from the floor, 9-of-26 (34.6%) from three-point range, while outrebounding the Titans 41-31.

Westminster's Drew Weir led four Titans in double figures with 20 points.  Westminster shot 23-of-51 (45.1%) from the floor, 5-of-15 (33.3%) from three-point range.

"This was a great team win," said Santarsiero.  "We battled all night in what proved to be a very tight game, and then we got some key stops late to secure the win.  Ryan was huge tonight for us with a double-double, and we got contributions from several guys.  These games are always so close up here, and this was a really key win for us to get as we get ready for first place Chatham on Saturday."

"As far as the wins," Santarsiero added, "you're only as good as the people around you, and I've had some great support throughout my time at Geneva, from players to coaches to mentors.  I especially share this milestone with my wife Sue, and the rest of my family, who have sacrificed a lot over the years with all the demands of coaching."

Geneva has three games left in its regular season, beginning with a home game against Chatham on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.  Prior to the game, the men will celebrate one of the best senior classes in recent history in Ryan and Mark Rachic, Johns, Tipton and the injured Payton Triplett, along with student-assistant Derek Sears.