February 20, 2008 - Geneva College
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February 20, 2008

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Van Zanic

Director of Sports Information

(724) 847-6886

vgzanic@geneva.edu

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 20, 2008

ANOTHER BAD SEQUEL, DIFFERENT NIGHT SAME

POOR ENDING

Greenville, PA - It′s like a bad movie that just keeps getting shown over and over again. For the men′s basketball team at Geneva, the opponents change, but the ugly ending just keeps getting harder and harder to watch. On Wednesday night, the Golden Tornadoes dropped an 87-85 overtime decision to Thiel College. It was the fourth time this season that the Golden Tornadoes have lost by two or fewer points, three of those games have come in the second half of the season on the road.

The Golden Tornadoes got off to an impressive start with sophomore Bryan Hill lighting the Greenville night with three-pointer after three-pointer. Hill led Geneva to a 22-11 lead just five minutes into the game. Thiel′s senior night emotions began to take over as the Tomcats ran off 20 of the next 23 points to take back control of the game. When the first half dust settled, Bryan Hill had filled the nets to the tune of seven three-point field goals and 25 points. Despite his heroics, Thiel took a 51-42 lead into the locker room. Thiel was 21-29 from the field for a blistering 72% as a team in the first 20 minutes.

Thiel seemed to take complete control of the game in the second half and extended its lead to as many as 14 points mid-way through the half. Greg McDivitt and Hill carried Geneva back into the game with another feverish comeback. McDivitt scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half, while Hill nailed two more treys, including the game tying three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in regulation. Hill nearly won the game for Geneva at the end of regulation when his running three-pointer from 40 feet hit the back rim.

Starting point guard Justin Nardi went down in a collision late in the second half and did not return for the overtime session. Neither team could get comfortable on the offensive side of the floor in the extra period. Thiel out scored Geneva 6-4 in those five minutes to come away with a two-point victory. Hill missed a long-range jumper in the final seconds, as did Geneva′s Joey Deep.

Hill tied a career high with 31 points and set a new personal mark with nine treys for the game. McDivitt posted another double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. For Thiel, Joe Herrmann scored 22 points and grabbed a team best 10 rebounds, while Brandon Mirizio scored 18 points for the Tomcats.

Geneva will host Westminster on Saturday night in the regular season finale with a chance to finish the year with a record above .500. Wednesday′s loss dropped Geneva to 12-12, while Thiel put an end to its four-game losing streak and improved to 10-13.

Feb 20, 2008