BEAVER FALLS, PA - After committing 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes during its last game (a loss at Westminster), Geneva reversed the script entirely and led Waynesburg the whole game to return to the winning track.
“It was a total team effort,” said Geneva coach Jeff Santarsiero. “We had two good days of practice and kept our intensity the whole game. We took their hit and kept going.”
Geneva did withstand an early Waynesburg comeback. The Golden Tornadoes took a 32-20 lead with 7:04 left in the first half on a three-pointer by freshman Jimmy Leichliter (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) but Waynesburg responded with an 11-point run to make the game close.
Leichliter then hit another three-pointer and the Yellow Jackets were never as close again. Leichliter was perfect on six three-point attempts, scoring 18 points in 19 minutes.
“Jimmy didn’t practice the last two days because of a bad ankle, but he sure hit a big three,” Santarsiero said. “His best basketball is still ahead of him.”
In addition to Leichliter’s 18, junior Ethan Adamczyk (Uniontown, OH/Lake) had 21 and sophomore Chaese Vaudrin (Uniontown, OH/Lake) had 15.
The win improved Geneva’s record to 7-10 overall and 4-4 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. It matched Geneva’s season total for wins last season and marked the second game in a row at Metheny Fieldhouse when the Golden Tornadoes set a season-high for points. The last home game was a 78-70 win over W&J.
“This was a great win,” Santarsiero said. “We’re playing very well at home, we have a lot more confidence than we did at the beginning of the year. We’ll enjoy this win and get ready for the second half of the season.”
Geneva will next play at Thiel Saturday at 3:00. Geneva defeated the Tomcats 56-55 at home December 3.
Geneva College invites students to step forward and leap ahead with an academically excellent, Christ-centered and affordable education. Offering nearly 40 undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and high-demand advanced graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top 10 Best Value with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.
© Geneva College | All rights reserved
