Van Zanic
Director of Sports Information
(724) 847-6886
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2008
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST, GENEVA′S SENIORS
GO OUT IN STYLE WITH VICTORY OVER TITANS
Beaver Falls, PA - It has certainly been a long time in coming for Geneva′s men′s basketball team and head coach Jeff Santarsiero. The Golden Tornadoes have lost five games by two points or less this year and on Saturday night, they finally turned the tables with an 81-80 victory over Westminster College in the regular season finale. With the victory, Geneva officially becomes eligible for the NCCAA post-season as it moved over the .500 mark with a record of 13-12. As for the Titans, Westminster fell to 7-18 on the season. The victory was also historic for head coach Jeff Santarsiero as he moved past Jerry Slocum for second place on Geneva′s all-time wins list with 203 victories.
In a game that saw numerous lead changes, Geneva and Westminster see-sawed back and forth for most of the night. The biggest lead came at the 8:57 mark of the second half when Westminster took a 67-59 lead. The Golden Tornadoes battled back and got within one-point with just three minutes remaining in the game.
Joey Deep, playing in place of injured guard Justin Nardi, knocked down his second three point field goal of the game at the 2:10 mark to give the Golden Tornadoes a 79-78 lead. Craig Hannon responded for Westminster with less than a minute remaining the regain the lead for the Titans. On senior night, it was only fitting that Zac Northen got the game winner on a seven-foot jumper from the base line with just 28 seconds on the clock. Hannon′s jumper with four seconds left fell off and Geneva defeated Westminster for the ninth straight time in the series.
Greg McDivitt, playing his final regular season home game scored a game high 24 points, while Kyle Frohnapple added 10 points off the bench in the victory. Ryne Murray led the Titans with 19 points, while Chauncey Whitlow added 15 in the loss.
Geneva will now await word from the NCCAA on the opponents, dates and times of the Eastern Regional Tournament on March 7-8. The Golden Tornadoes should be in line to host the regional with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCCAA nationals in mid-March.
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