Beaver Falls, PA - It all came together for the Geneva men′s basketball team on Wednesday night in the home finale. The Golden Tornadoes defeated rival Westminster 89-84 to sweep the season series from the Titans while in the process guaranteed a record over .500 and a trip to the NCCAA east regional tournament. Equally as important was the quartet of seniors ending their regular season at home with a big victory. Geneva moved to 13-11 on the season with a road game at Waynesburg on Saturday awaiting to end the regular season.
"Our goal all season was to play games after the regular season," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "It was great to see our offense come together and score big baskets at key moments during the second half." Santarsiero saw six players finish in double figures led by a 19 points performance from Rich Colick. Bryan Hill came up with 17 points including five three point field goals. Hill made a big three pointer in the final two minutes to extend the lead as the Golden Tornadoes never allowed Westminster to take the lead after an early first half lead. "Bryan′s three-pointer was huge," said Santarsiero. "We got great contributions from several guys which makes it tough for teams to defend us."
Colick and Hill were joined by Dave Phillips and Brandon Harvey with 11 points while Lambros Svingos and TJ Bevilacqua each came up with ten points. Westminster never let Geneva run away and hide mostly because of the work of senior Ryne Murray. Murray scored a game high 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Titans.
With the victory, Geneva clinched an NCCAA post-season berth in the NCCAA regionals which will be determined following the regular season this weekend. "We are very excited to get back to the post-season," said Santarsiero. "We will have to wait to see where and when we play, but at least we are still playing."
The Golden Tornadoes close out the regular season on Saturday night at Waynesburg University to try and come up with another season sweep.
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).
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