NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College men's basketball team took a while to get its offense on track on Wednesday night at Westminster, and the Golden Tornadoes' first-half struggles were too much to overcome as the men lost to the Titans 74-58. The loss drops Geneva out of a tie for first place in the North Division with Westminster, placing the men at 4-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), 7-9 overall.
Things started solidly for the Golden Tornadoes, as senior Jonathan Bertovich opened the scoring with a bucket. Layups from sophomores Austin Matthews and Tommy Coletti increased the Geneva lead to 7-3, and back-to-back layups from senior Trey Barker extended the advantage to 13-8 seven minutes into the game.
The offense went cold, though, after the good early start. The Titans scored the next eight points, while the Golden Tornadoes managed just seven points over the final 13 minutes of the first half. Westminster eventually took a 30-20 lead into the halftime break.
The Titans extended their advantage to 38-23 three minutes into the second half. Two free throws from junior Ryan Edwards two minutes later pulled Geneva within single digits, 41-32, but that was as close as the men could get. Westminster slowly pulled away the rest of the game to secure the 74-58 victory.
Bertovich led the team with 14 points, while Barker also reached double figures with ten points. Matthews and senior Nick Million each scored nine points, while Coletti and Edwards added eight points apiece. As a team Geneva shot just 22-of-60 (36.7%) from the floor, 6-of-17 (35.3%) from three-point range.
Westminster was led by Trey DePietro's 20 points. The Titans shot 25-of-58 (43.1%) from the floor, 7-of-27 (25.9%) from deep.
"It's been a while since we've had a team struggle to hit shots like we've done recently," said Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero. "I thought we got some open looks, but we just couldn't get them to go. Give credit to Westminster for defending well, but we've got to get some other guys besides JB to step up. Teams are really focusing on him right now with the way he's been playing, and we need other guys to help produce. So we'll get back to work tomorrow and try to figure some things out for Saturday."
The men will try to break out of their recent slump on Saturday when Geneva hosts Bethany at 3:30 p.m. inside Metheny Fieldhouse.
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).
