Beaver Falls, PA – March madness comes a couple weeks early to College Hill as Geneva′s men′s and women′s basketball teams prepare to open the post-season on Wednesday in the first round of the American Mideast Conference Tournament.
Each team will take a different post-season road, however, both squads are just three victories away from a trip to the NAIA national tournament.
Geneva′s women have far exceeded any early season expectations as they have recorded a record of 21-4 and in doing so reached the 20-win plateau for just the second time in school history. Geneva′s 12-2 AMC North record was good enough for second place and will allow the Golden Tornadoes at least a pair of home games to open the tournament, should they get by the first round. Geneva′s women will draw Houghton College in the first round on Wednesday night. While Geneva garnered second place in the division, Houghton came in fifth place with an overall record of 12-13. Geneva defeated Houghton in both match-ups this year, including a 74-45 drubbing at Metheny Fieldhouse back on January 19th.
Should Geneva′s women survive the opening round, they would host the winner of Tiffin (13-14) and Rio Grande (20-10) on Saturday night at Metheny Fieldhouse. The championship round is scheduled for Tuesday, February 27th. Ohio Dominican, which holds the top seed for the tournament, based on a rotating system from one year to the next, would hold home court all the way through the tournament, should they continue to win. If Geneva were to meet any other team in the championship, the Golden Tornadoes would host that game next week.
It has been a much tougher road for Geneva′s men this season as it finished the regular season with a 14-15 overall record, including a 3-7 mark in conference play. As a result, Geneva snuck into the play-offs with the number five seed. The Golden Tornadoes will be forced to be road warriors throughout the play-offs, beginning with a trip to Cleveland, OH to face Notre Dame College (17-13). A victory on Wednesday night would vault Geneva into the semi-final round with a meeting on the road against either Mt. Vernon Nazarene (23-5) or Shawnee State (16-13). Walsh University (24-5) holds the number one seed on the men′s side and home court advantage throughout the tournament.
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