GREENVILLE, Pa. – Khari Bess (Waldorf, Md./Maurice J. McDonough) and Luke Kochka (Monroeville, Pa. /Gateway) scored 18 points apiece Wednesday to lead the Thiel College men's basketball team to a 79-67 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) win over the Geneva Golden Tornadoes at Beeghly Gymnasium.
 
The Tomcats led by two points (33-31) at the half and went ahead for good on Colby Sledge (Riviera Beach, Fla./Suncoast Community)'s layup with a little more than nine minutes remaining in the second half. The Tomcats went on to lead by as many as 16 points down the stretch. Thiel led Geneva in points in the paint (38-26), bench points (34-13) and points off turnovers (16-6).
 
Bess and Kochka combined for 36 points. The pair also combined for 11 rebounds and eight assists while Bess tallied seven steals in the conference opener for both teams. With his seven steals, Bess set a new career program record (221), surpassing Vince Manzella (214). Tyreik Burton (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) also scored 16 points for the Tomcats while dishing out five assists.
 
Chaese Vaudrin scored a game-high 29 points for Geneva while also notching seven rebounds. Also for Geneva, Danny Torok scored 11 points while Jimmy Leichliter and David Oliver registered 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
 
The Tomcats (3-4, 1-0 PAC) will travel to Bethany, W.Va. Saturday to face the Bethany Bison in PAC action. The game is slated to begin at 4 p.m.