McKeesport, PA - Geneva College men′s basketball coach Jeff Santarsiero started his new life on the sidelines without 1000 point scorers Richard Colick and Bryan Hill on Tuesday night. So far, so good for the Golden Tornadoes as they opened the 2011-12 campaign with a 64-44 victory at Penn State Greater Allegheny.
Using a suffocating defensive effort and a balanced scoring attack, the Golden Tornadoes managed to open the season with a victory for the fifth year in a row and the second straight year with a season opening victory over Penn State Greater Allegheny.
Geneva held PSGA to only seven field goals in the first half on its way to a 31-18 halftime lead. The Golden Tornadoes knocked down five first half three-point field goals and shot nearly 44% from the field in the first 20 minutes. "We came out and did some good things on both ends of the floor," said Santarsiero. "We are going to have to get after teams defensively every night and we got off to a good start tonight."
On the offensive end of the floor, David Phillips led all scorers with 15 points despite a 1-8 shooting effort from three-point range. He also pulled down nine rebounds which was just one shy of Matt Lorello′s team best ten rebounds. Lorello also posted ten points for a double-double to start the new season. Lambros Svingos scored ten points and grabbed four rebounds in the victory.
Geneva maintained control of the game throughout and had the chance to put the Lions away earlier but went 0-11 from three-point range in the second half. "We obviously have to do a better job on the perimeter," said Santarsiero. "That type of shooting on the road won′t get you a victory very often so we were pretty fortunate that our defense bailed us out tonight."
The Golden Tornadoes return to Metheny Fieldhouse this weekend for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-off Tournament. Geneva will face Pitt-Greensburg in the 8 pm game on Friday night which will be preceded by Grove City and Mount Union at 6 pm. The Golden Tornadoes will then face Mt. Union on Saturday at 3 pm.
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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