Van Zanic
Director of Sports Information
(724) 847-6886
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2009
SECOND HALF SETBACK, THOMAS MORE RUNS AWAY
FROM GENEVA IN FINAL 20 MINUTES
Beaver Falls, PA - For the first 20 minutes of Wednesday night′s game, Geneva College′s men′s basketball team was locked up in an offensive shoot-out with Thomas More. Both teams took turns knocking down three point field goals in one of the most entertaining halves of basketball all season. When the dust settled, Geneva trailed Thomas More 45-39 at the break. Geneva could not find its legs early in the second half as the Saints scored the first ten points of the second half and never looked back as they cruised to a 92-74 victory over the Golden Tornadoes. The loss dropped Geneva′s overall record to 3-11 while Thomas More improved to 9-6.
"We did a lot of good things in the first half, but for whatever reason we could not get going in the final 20 minutes," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We talked about putting pressure on them and creating easy shots for ourselves, but they turned the tables on us and we just didn′t have an answer." The Golden Tornadoes have not had many answers this year, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Wednesday′s effort marked the fifth time in the last eight games that an opponent has reached the 90-minute mark. "You are not going to win many games when you give up 90," said Santarsiero. "We just have to take pride in our defense and we have a long way to go."
Thomas More burned the Metheny Fieldhouse nets in the first half by shooting 66% (19-29) from the field, including a 5-6 effort from three-point range. They cooled off a bit in the second half but finished the game with a mark of 60%. Geneva shot just 38% from the field as a team and was 9-23 from three-point range.
Richard Colick scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to match Brandon Harvey′s 16 points for the Golden Tornadoes. Justin Nardi added 14 points and Dave Phillips chipped in with ten for Geneva College. Thomas More got 18 points from Daniel McKeehan off the bench while teammates Mark Tinklenberg and Kurt Bovard each posted 14 points.
The Golden Tornadoes will take to the road on Saturday when they battle Thiel College in Greenville, PA in a 3:00 pm matinee. Geneva College returns home on Wednesday to begin a three-game home stand beginning with long-time rival Westminster College on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
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