BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Nov. 26) -- The Thiel College men's basketball team dropped a road contest with reigning Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) champion Geneva 72-59 Tuesday night at Metheny Fieldhouse.

The Tomcats fall to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play while the Golden Tornadoes move to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in PAC.

Logan Lentz (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) tied things at 52 on a jumper with 8:33 remaining in the game. The Golden Tornadoes responded with a 12-0 run over the next 4:29 to pull ahead 64-52.  A Rob Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) bucket in the paint killed the run and brought the deficit back to 10, but the home side outscored the visitors 8-5 the rest of the way to close the contest on an extended 20-7 run in the final 8:27 to seal the victory.

Lentz posted a career-best 11 points on 5-of-8, pulled down six rebounds and had one block and steal each. Thomas, the reigning PAC Newcomer of the Week, pitched in 6 points and a career-best three steals while pulling down two boards.

Thiel trailed 37-29 at the break but used an 11-2 spurt over the first 6:12 of the second half to lead 40-39, their first lead since 2-0 in the first 15 seconds of the game. The run was capped off on an Anthony Henderson II (Miramar, Fla./Somerset Academy) layup. Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) had 4 points in the stretch while Gabriel Gonzalez (Merida, Venezuela/Southwest Miami) pitched in 3. Lentz and Henderson II accounted for the remaining 4 points. 

Ellerbee posted another solid all-around performance with 10 points, a game-best four steals and a team-high seven rebounds. 

Gonzalez posted a team-best 12 points on 5-of-11 and collected two steals. Henderson II finished with 4 points and five rebounds. 

The Blue and Gold trailed 20-11 at the 8:09 mark of the opening half, but a Mike Brown (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) 3-ball capped off a 10-3 stretch that cut the deficit to 4 (23-21) with 4:57 left in the half. 

Brown notched 10 points on 4-of-10 along with a team-best three assists.

As a team, Thiel collected 13 steals to Geneva's seven. The Blue and Gold were out-rebounded 42-30. 

Men's basketball returns to action Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Division-II Edinboro in a road non-conference tilt at McComb Fieldhouse.