Beaver Falls, PA – Geneva′s athletic future begins in the Presidents′ Athletic Conference next fall. On Tuesday night, the Golden Tornadoes got an early glimpse of what life in the PAC could be like next season. Geneva dropped a hard fought 74-64 decision to Grove City in the 139th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to the 1900-01 season. The loss dropped Geneva to 5-3, while Grove City evened its record at 2-2.
“This was a very disappointing effort,” said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. “Give all the credit to Coach (Steve) Lamie and Grove City. They outworked us and outplayed us all night. Our guys just never showed up and we paid the price.”
The price Geneva paid was watching an undersized Grove City team hustle to 11 offensive rebounds and defensively shut down Geneva in the final 20 minutes. The Wolverines held Geneva to just five second half field goals and the Golden Tornadoes shot just 17% for the final 20 minutes. Geneva trailed Grove City 40-37 at halftime, but the Wolverines out scored Geneva 34-27 in the second half.
Kyle McDermott, who was honored for scoring his 1000th career point prior to the game, led Geneva with 18 points in the loss. Greg McDivitt added 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Bryan Hill added 12 points, including four three-point field goals.
On the Grove City side, Ryan Gibson led all scorers with 20 points, while Riverside graduate Craig Hallman added 16 points in the victory.
“We knew it was going to be a struggle,” said Santarsiero. “Grove City circles this game on the schedule every year and we simply didn′t answer the bell.”
Geneva will get a chance to rebound on Saturday night when it hosts another future PAC foe in rival Westminster College at Metheny Fieldhouse.
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