Beaver Falls, PA - Geneva welcomed the Washington & Jefferson Presidents to Metheny Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon for a men’s basketball Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup. The game of runs ended in W&J’s favor as the Golden Tornadoes couldn’t hold on in the PAC showdown handing the Presidents their first win of the season. The 74-66 loss lowers Geneva’s overall record to 8-9, 5-5 in the PAC.
The Presidents opened scoring on College Hill taking an early 4-0 lead. Ethan Moose’s (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) back-to-back jumpers helped close the scoring gap; 12-9. Geneva threatened to take the lead from W&J down by one at 18-17 with 11 minutes remaining in the half. The Golden Tornadoes’ initial bark was bigger than its bite as W&J held onto the lead until 6:27. David Oliver’s (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) block in the paint was rebounded by Chaese Vaudrin (Uniontown, OH/Lake) who set up Moose for a beautiful layup tying the game at 24-24. Moose was just getting started as he tallied another layup and drew a foul for the 27-24 Geneva lead.
Matt Dragan (Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe) protected Geneva’s basket with an outstanding defensive performance and big plays off the boards.
What started as a frustrated Golden Tornadoes squad transformed into a team with fierce momentum heading into the locker room at the half.
W&J put Geneva’s momentum to a hold and created its own outscoring the Golden Tornadoes 17-4 to open the second half. The Presidents retook the lead at 16:41 at 39-38.
Down by 10 (55-45) at 11:27, Geneva’s Jimmy Leichliter (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) sunk a basket from downtown sparking an offensive explosion. Vaudrin earned a steal, connected with Moose, who finished the play for a 55-50 game at 10:15. Moose stole two back-to-back Presidents pass attempts converting both into good fast break layups moving the scoreboard to W&J 55, Geneva 54 (9:18). Leichliter handed Geneva the 56-55 lead at 8:55 with a good basket. Moose continued, posting a defensive rebound setting up Leichliter for a layup placing Geneva 58-55 over W&J at 8:17.
The tight game continued as W&J tied the game 61-61 with 5:39 remaining and would finish the game prevailing 74-66.
Moose finish with team-high 22 points while also recording seven rebounds, three steals, three assists and a block. Leichliter also posted a double figure points with 18. In addition, he recorded six rebounds, two steals and a block. Vaudrin finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal. Dragan tallied five rebounds and a block.
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