STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Geneva men's basketball team has struggled to score the ball early in games of late, and that trend continued in Saturday's 78-64 road loss to Franciscan University. The host team went up by double digits very quickly, and the Golden Tornadoes found themselves playing from behind the rest of the way. Geneva's record sits at 8-13 overall, 5-7 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Franciscan moves up to 16-5 overall, 8-4 in the PAC.

The Barons scored 15 of the game's first 17 points, with a layup by senior Nick Million the only basket for Geneva during that stretch. Senior Jonathan Bertovich cut the deficit down to ten points via a three-pointer at the 14:32 mark of the first half, but Franciscan's edge grew back to 14 almost immediately. The GTs fought to get the deficit under double figures, briefly doing so thanks to another Bertovich three-ball just over ten minutes in, but Franciscan once again struck back, taking a 46-32 lead into the break.

Million got Geneva on the board early in the second half, knocking down a trey, but Franciscan responded with a 7-2 run to maintain control. 11 straight points by the hosts midway through the half seemed to put the nail in the coffin for Geneva, as the Barons took their largest lead of the game, 66-43, with ten minutes to play. A 10-2 Golden Tornado run helped to stop the bleeding, with sophomore Tommy Coletti scoring eight of the points, but the men could not bring the deficit below 11 points the rest of the way as Franciscan took the win 78-64.

The Barons made nearly half the shots they took in the game, going 30-for-61 (49.2%) from the field and shooting 11-for-25 (44.0%) from three-point land. Geneva also shot well, making 25-of-59 (42.4%) attempts and 10-of-21 (47.6%) from deep, but rebounding made a big difference with Franciscan pulling down 39 boards to Geneva's 28.

Senior Trey Barker was the top scorer for the men, recording 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 4-for-6 effort from long range. Coletti was the only other Golden Tornado to reach double figures, scoring 15 points to go with three assists, three boards, and three blocks. Senior Alec Srock was the team's leading rebounder, grabbing six boards off the bench.

"It's a pattern that is repeating itself - we keep getting down early and trying to claw our way back," commented head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We did better in the second half today, but a couple of injuries to our guys made it tough to come back. Moral victories like that are getting a little old - we need to figure things out here before the end of the season."

Geneva returns home next week for a game against Thiel on Wednesday, February 11. Tip-off for that matchup is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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).