December 30, 2009 - Geneva College
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December 30, 2009

Picture of December 30, 2009

St. Augustine, FL - The good news for the Geneva College men′s basketball team is that it was about 50 degrees warmer in Florida than it was in Beaver Falls the last few days. The bad news was they dropped two games on a swing through the sunshine state in as many days. One day after falling to Florida Tech, the Golden Tornadoes dropped an 86-74 decision to NCAA Division II Flagler University. The loss dropped Geneva under the .500 mark for the season at 5-6 while Flagler improved to 6-4.

Much like Tuesday night, the Golden Tornadoes were forced to battle back after a halftime deficit. Flagler took a nine-point lead into the locker room at 45-36. Three times in the second half Geneva got to within five points, but was never able to crawl closer. "These two games mirrored each other," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We just couldn′t get the big shot when we needed it and they were able to hold us off down the stretch." On Tuesday, Geneva fell behind by 14 points at halftime only to draw within five in the final minutes but watched Florida Tech score the game′s final 11 points. Against Flagler, Geneva′s hot shooting from the field wasn′t enough as the home standing Saints held on for the win. "We certainly shot the ball much better tonight," said Santarsiero. "This is another example of coming up short against a very talented ball club."

Lambros Svingos pulled Geneva to within six points at 78-72 with just over two minutes to play, but much like Tuesday night, the Golden Tornadoes cooled off down the stretch as Flagler stretched its lead to ten points in the next 60 seconds to put the game away.

Geneva turned the ball over 23 times while Flagler committed only 13 turnovers. "You can′t give away so many possessions against a good team," said Santarsiero. "We had too many empty trips and it cost us down the stretch." The Golden Tornadoes did shoot the ball well to the tune of 55% from the field for the game including six three point field goals. Dave Phillips led the way with 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. Brandon Harvey added 16 points while Rich Colick and Svingos each finished with ten points.

The Golden Tornadoes will head north tomorrow with a stop in Kentucky on Saturday to face PAC foe Thomas More at 3 pm. Geneva returns home next week to face Saint Vincent on Thursday and Penn State Beaver next Saturday.

Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).

Dec 30, 2009