GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team was defeated by the Geneva Golden Tornadoes, 87-77, in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game Wednesday evening.
 
The game was tied at 12 early, when the Golden Tornadoes scored 13-straight points as part of a larger 44-14 run to close out the first half leading 56-26. The Golden Tornadoes maintained a 20-point lead for the majority of the second half until the final two minutes. With the score at 85-63 the Tomcats closed out the game with a 14-2 run, but it was not enough as the Golden Tornadoes won 87-77. The Tomcats outscored the Golden Tornadoes 51-31 in the second half.
 
Beni Lavodrama (Washington, D.C./Phelps ACE) led the Tomcats with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He added seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Daquan Simmons (Capitol Heights, Md./Central) and Ahmad Tejumola (Waldorf, Md./Saint Charles) tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively. Tejumola led the Tomcats with nine assists and two blocks. Ethan Barnes (Boynton Beach, Fla./Suncoast) notched his first double-digit scoring game for the Tomcats on 4-of-6 shooting. He also led the game with four steals.
 
For the Golden Tornadoes, Lyle Tipton scored 35 points with nine rebounds, five assists, five blocks, and two steals. Matt Veynovich also scored 16 points.
 
The Tomcats will next face the defending-PAC champions in the Westminster Titans. The Thiel home game is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m.