Greenville, PA – The Thiel Tomcats hosting the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes each entered Wednesday’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) game with a 6-6 record in the league. Thiel was able to defend home court and taking the five seed in the PAC handing Geneva an 87-77 loss. The road loss moves Geneva’s overall record to 9-11, 6-7 in the PAC.
"We need to do a better job defending the ball," said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. "We need to focus on that one fact the rest of the season."
Not eight minutes into the first half Geneva had already committed six travel violations. Thiel capitalized on the Geneva turnovers taking a 10-point lead over the Golden Tornadoes at 18-10 early in the contest. Jimmy Leichliter’s (Connellsville, PA/ Connellsville) good three-pointer moved the game to 31-21 with six minutes left in half.
Thiel started to gain momentum with 4:15 left on the clock, leading Geneva by 17-points. Leichliter struck again putting the host’s momentum to a halt. Leichliter’s 20-footer moved the board to 38-24. On point, Leichliter continued to find the basket sinking another three ball at 1:27 (40-29). Despite Leichliter’s hot-handed run, Geneva entered the locker room down by 10, 41-31.
Three-time PAC Rookie of the Week, Ethan Moose (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) was held to one point in the first 20 minutes of play. Moose’s offense exploded hitting a three and a series of jumpers recording eight points in the first five minutes to open the half.
Moose active around the rim tallied another basket for his 10th point at 13:41. Geneva once down by 14 closed Thiel’s lead down to five; 46-41.
At 9:37, down 59-51, Geneva was only able to convert one good basket after being handed four throws from the charity stripe from a foul on Moose combined with a Thiel technical foul after the play.
Matt Dragan (Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe) went 2-2 at the line to bring the game to an eight-point difference; 61-53.
Leichliter hit his 22nd point with a pair of good free throws at 7:20. Chaese Vaudrin (Uniontown, OH/Lake) and Moose added buckets of their own for a score of 67-60 at 6:37.
Geneva chipped away at Thiel’s lead but the Tomcats always answered the Golden Tornadoes runs, keeping the game just at arm’s length from Geneva.
Leichliter racked up an impressive 29 points on the night. Moose also record big numbers with 22 points. Both Leichliter and Moose also we tabbed the team’s highest rebounders of the night with six apiece.
On Saturday, February 4 Geneva is set to host the number two PAC seed Thomas More Saints for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 40 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and classroom options, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth 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.
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