BETHANY, W.Va. – Trailing by double-digits midway through the second half, the Geneva men's basketball responded in a big way on Saturday, scoring 42 second-half points to defeat Bethany College on the road, 72-68. Senior Trevor Tipton scored a season-high 28 points to lead the men to victory. The GTs' record moves up to 10-11 overall with the win, 8-8 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play, while Bethany continues to slide, sitting at 7-14 overall with a 2-14 PAC record.

Neither team scored through the first two minutes of the half, with a three-pointer from Bethany's Cole Dailey finally breaking the drought at the 17:46 mark. Tipton immediately responded with a triple of his own on the next possession, and then proceeded to knock down two more over the next two minutes to score the first nine Geneva points himself. Tipton cooled down some after that, and the two sides proceeded to go back-and-forth, with a layup from graduate student KC Johns finally giving Geneva a two-possession lead, 21-17, with 9:10 to play in the first half.

Bethany responded well to that deficit, however, scoring the next ten points of the game to fly in front 27-21. Graduate student Ryan Rachic nailed two jumpers to bring the Golden Tornadoes within five points with three minutes to play, and another Tipton three-pointer with under 30 seconds left in the half cut the difference down to two. Troy Hixson of Bethany stuck a tough contested three-ball at the halftime buzzer to push the Bison's advantage back to five points, and the GTs went into the break trailing 35-30.

Tipton picked up right where he left off to start the second period, drilling another trey a minute and a half in. That shot cut the Geneva deficit to two, but the Bison began to pick things up offensively, building their cushion up to 11 points over the next seven and a half minutes. A three-pointer from senior Mark Rachic seemed to wake Geneva's offense up, and it jump-started a quick 8-0 run from the men that culminated in another three, this time from junior Nick Million.

Bethany pushed its lead back up to five points with 9:15 to play, but buckets from Million and Mark Rachic brought the Golden Tornadoes back within one. A soaring transition dunk by Million on the next possession gave the men their first lead of the second half, one they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Johns and Tipton drained triples on back-to-back possessions just two minutes later, and the Golden Tornadoes found themselves ahead by five points with under five minutes to play. Million, Tipton, and Johns combined to score the final 21 points for Geneva, and the GTs held off a late Bethany rally to win the game 72-68.

Tipton's 28 points were a game-high, and he finished the game 6-for-14 from three-point range as well as a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Million tied his career-high with 14 points off the bench on 5-for-8 shooting, with 12 of those coming in the second half. Johns was instrumental with 13 points and four assists, and Mark Rachic put together a well-rounded stat line with seven points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. As a team, the men shot just 24-for-61 (39%), but a 15-for-18 (83%) effort from the free throw line proved to be crucial in the victory.

"Any win on the road is great," commented head coach Jeff Santarsiero after the game. "Bethany plays well at home, and we knew that coming in. We had a sluggish start, and even after we built a little bit of a lead in the first half, they came back by hitting contested shots. We played more disciplined basketball in the second half, and credit to Trevor and Mills, they had great games. Now it's on to Westminster on Wednesday."

That road game against the Titans is set to tip-off at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12^th. After that, the men will face two big tests at home in Chatham and Grove City.

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).