Beaver Falls, PA - Nobody said winning is easy in the Presidents′ Athletic Conference. For the Geneva College men′s basketball team wins have been especially difficult to secure this season. The Golden Tornadoes needed overtime on Saturday afternoon to pick up their second victory of the season in an 87-86 win over Thiel College. The victory put an end to Geneva′s seven game losing slide and moved its overall record to 2-15 including a 2-7 mark in the Presidents′ Athletic Conference, For Thiel, the Tomcats dropped to 8-7 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
The trend of taking a halftime lead into the locker room continued for Geneva as it took a 36-29 lead into the break. Much like earlier season losses, the Golden Tornadoes watched that halftime lead disappear as Thiel seemingly took control of the game midway through the second period. The Tomcats led by as many as six points at 59-53 with 9:36 left to play in regulation. The Golden Tornadoes scored the next seven points capped by a lay-up from DJ Damazo. There were five lead changes and eight ties in the second half. Keynon Jackson′s lay-up with ten seconds left in regulation tied the game at 77-77. Geneva stepped up defensively in the final seconds of the second half and kept the Tomcats off the board.
Zac Rorick, who proved to be a spark all game, opened the overtime with his fifth three-point field goal of the game. An Anthony Harvey three-pointer put Thiel back on top with 2:11 remaining in overtime. Trailing by one point in the final minute, Keynon Jackson got himself to the foul line and converted a pair of free throws to give Geneva its 87-86 lead. Thiel was given one last desperation shot at the buzzer that fell short and Geneva got its second victory of the season.
Matt Lorello led Geneva with 25 points on 9-10 shooting from the field. Jordan Harbison and Keynon Jackson each had 13 points with Rorick coming off the bench to connect for 16 points including 5-6 from three-point range. Thiel was led by Chace McKinney′s 27 points but it was not enough to keep Geneva from its second home victory of the season.
The Golden Tornadoes will look to feed off of Saturday′s momentum as they welcome Betheny College to Metheny Fieldhouse on Wednesday night at 7:30 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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