Grove City, PA - The Geneva College men′s basketball team hadn′t won a road game all season coming into Saturday′s action at Wolverine Arena on Grove City′s campus. After rallying back from an 11-point first half deficit, it appeared the Golden Tornadoes were on their way to that first win away from home but a game tying shot sent the game into overtime where Grove City escaped 80-75. Geneva dropped its fifth straight and fell to 2-20 overall and 2-12 in the PAC. Meanwhile, Grove City improved to 9-14 and 5-9 in the league.
Grove City led for the final 19 minutes of the first half and opened up a lead of as many as 11 points at 41-30 late in the stanza. The Wolverines settled for a 41-37 halftime lead as the Golden Tornadoes scored the final seven points of the half. Fighting back, Geneva tied the game at 53-53 midway through the second half and took its first lead of the second half on a lay-up from Matt Lorello at the 8:57 mark. Grove City scored the next five points to open up a four-point lead but Geneva would battle back yet again.
Trailing 61-57, the Golden Tornadoes would post eight straight points capped by a Pat Johnson three-point field goal that gave Geneva a 65-61 lead with 4:05 left in regulation. Geneva would hold that lead into the final moments of regulation. Leading 69-66 with less than 30 seconds, the Golden Tornadoes watched as Brian Giesler connected on a three-point field goal with 18 seconds left in the second half. An offensive foul against Geneva in the final seconds prevented a game winning shot and the two teams would head to overtime. Grove City outscored Geneva 11-6 in the extra session to come away with the victory.
Perhaps the most lopsided statistic of the day was that Geneva committed 25 turnovers while Grove City posted just six giveaways. The result was Grove City putting up 14 more shots in the game. The Wolverines shot 45% from the field and knocked down ten treys while Geneva shot 41% from the field and connected on 10-24 from outside the arc.
Geneva got points from nine different players and was led by Matt Lorello′s 16 points. Keynon Jackson chipped in with 14 points and a team best 10 rebounds while Jordan Harbison knocked down a pair of treys and had 13 points in the loss.
Geneva will close out the regular season with three home games next week. The Golden Tornadoes will host Penn State Beaver on Monday at 7:30 before heading back into PAC action against W & J on Wednesday and Westminster on Saturday night.
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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