WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Geneva Golden Tornadoes used a concentrated team effort Thursday night at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium to down the W&J Presidents and limit their offensive opportunities throughout the game as they took home a 77-67 road victory.
The loss drops W&J to 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the PAC. Geneva improves to 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the PAC with the victory. W&J falls into a tie for second place with Geneva while Westminster moves into first place in the PAC standings at 7-1 overall.
Geneva used a fast start to build an early 16-5 lead just five-plus minutes into the game when Ryan Rachic drained a triple. Later in the quick half of play, the Presidents made some smart subs for some fresh faces that panned out as
Brandon Jakiela (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) and
Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) help jump start the offense. Jakiela made a paif of baskets midway through the first half to cut W&J's deficit to 20-17 at the 9:24 mark.The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half. W&J cut the deficit to one (29-28) on a basket by
Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) with 4:14 to play. The GT's were able to stretch the lead to 38-34 at the break.
W&J trailed by just three points with 6:15 to play in the second half. However, the GT's used a spurt to stretch the lead back into double digits to put away W&J for good.
Mitchell and Jakiela dropped 18 points apiece in the loss. Mitchell also led the team in steals (3), rebounds (5) and assists (7).
W&J shot 39.4 percent (28-of-71) from the field during the game. This is the second consecutive team to hold the Presidents offense under 80 points. W&J currently averages 82.6 points per game.
The Presidents struggled on the boards all night as they capped off the matchup being out-rebounded by a 47-37 margin. W&J found a way to outscore Geneva in the paint (52-40). Geneva held a decided advantage from beyond the arc, as the visitors made eight three-pointers while the Presidents made just two triples.
The Presidents host Waynesburg University for a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 7. The game will be the second of three straight home contests for the Red and Black. Tip off is set for 3 p.m.
