Beaver Falls, PA – Men’s basketball hosted the Thomas More Saints on Saturday, February 4. The Saints came marching in and left Geneva with a three game losing streak, defeating the Golden Tornadoes 76-59. The conference loss lowers Geneva’s overall record to 9-12, 6-8 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC).

Ethan Moose (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) started the game on fire with a good jumper and one, handing the Golden Tornadoes the early lead at 5-3 (17:55). Jimmy Leichliter (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) kept the advantage with a good three ball at 16:58 (8-5). Geneva couldn’t hold onto the lead long as Thomas More tied it up at 14-14 (11:50) and took the lead a minute later, 15-14.

David Oliver (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) sunk a three-pointer set up from Leichliter bringing the game to 20-19 at 5:02 left in the first half. At 4:08, Joey Jou (Miami, FL/Westwood Christian) worked the inside for a good layup (22-21). The tight game didn’t last into the halftime break as the Saints tallied a six-point run and later added a buzzer beater three-pointer. Geneva entered the second half down by nine at 33-24. A bright spot for Geneva was outrebounding the Saints 23-15.

Geneva offense struggled to tally points early in the second and lost their rebound edge over the visitors. Tyler Crenshaw (Moon Twp., PA/Moon/Mt. Aloysius) sunk a three at 13:53 bringing the scoreboard to Thomas More 47, Geneva 35.

Leichliter drew two fouls going 1-1 at the line at each appearance and recorded a bucket for a ten-point game, 50-40 at 12:42. Despite efforts, Geneva couldn’t close the double figure gap.

At 7:07, Leichliter’s deep three brought the game to 61-47. Thomas More’s hot handed day continued forcing Geneva to take the 76-59 final loss.

Leichliter topped Geneva’s scoring charts with 17 points supported by Crenshaw with 11 and Noah Damazo (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) with a slick 10 points. Off the glass, Leichliter and Moose led the Golden Tornadoes with eight rebounds apiece. Moose finished the game with nine points.

Next week, the Golden Tornadoes continue play at Grove City starting at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8. Geneva will stay on the road on Saturday, February 11 facing Chatham at 3 p.m.