Tornadoes pull away late for win

BEAVER FALLS - The Geneva College men's basketball team understood very well that there is no such thing as a safe lead, even at Metheny Fieldhouse.

After all, the players had just watched the women come from 19 down in the second half and defeat Malone by three points, 61-58.

Still, the Golden Tornadoes had seen a lead that was double digits for most of the first half dwindle to just six with 12 minutes left, 51-45.

But senior forward Christian Hauser wasn't about to watch a second comeback of the night and connected on a three-point play with 11:57 left to stretch the lead to nine and Geneva never looked back, trouncing Malone, 89-71. Geneva is now 4-4, Malone 2-6.

"Coach preached that we couldn't lose our intensity," said Hauser, who finished with 11 points and missed only one shot all game. "We knew they'd make a run, every team does, but we couldn't let them back into the game. We finished strong."

After Hauser stopped Malone's momentum, sophomore Ryan Burns ripped it to shreds. In a four minute stretch, the 6-foot-4 guard scored 11 points, hitting three straight three-pointers.

"Once the first one went down," said Burns, who finished with 14 points in 14 minutes, "it's like the lid came off. It felt good and when you get a feeling like that, your teammates know and keep getting you the ball.

"But you still have to keep the intensity up at the other end because, if you don't play defense, you don't play."

In fact, it was Geneva's defensive play that pleased head coach Jeff Santarsiero as much as his team's ability to stay ahead. The 71 points against were Geneva's best defensive output of the season and 10 of those points came in the final three minutes as reserves got a chance to play.

"I was really pleased with our defensive effort," Santarsiero said. "We hadn't seen that in a while.

"We got a little sloppy when we were up but that happens and we adjusted. It felt good out there tonight and we came out ready to play with a sense of urgency."

Geneva jumped ahead early and led 18-6 six minutes in. By halftime, though, the lead was still 12 at 39-27. Bam Harmon did most of his damage in the opening 20 minutes. He scored 15 points, making six of nine field goals - three of five from three-point range.

"Bam kept us in the game in the first half," Santarsiero said. "And Christian had the big basket in the second half.

"We got a lot of good play from a lot of guys but I was really happy to see Ryan Burns' shots start to fall. He's put a lot of work in that shot and I was happy for him."

Harmon and Kyle McDermott tied for the team scoring lead with 18 each, while Burns and Hauser each scored in double figures and point guard Nate Conley had 11 assists. Now 4-4, Geneva has games Thursday against future conference foe Grove City and Saturday at current NAIA rival Seton Hill before breaking for finals and Christmas.

"It's a big week for us," Santarsiero said.

"Coach has been making us go harder in practice," Hauser said. "It's helped and now the sky's the limit."

©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2005