BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- Despite noteworthy performances from Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) and James Sitter (Erie, Pa./Fairview), the Allegheny College men's basketball team fell to Geneva College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest on Wednesday night, 83-74.

The Gators (6-12, 4-9 PAC) led by as many as 11 points in the first half and 10 in the second half. However, the Golden Tornadoes (9-9, 7-6 PAC) withstood the early attack and had enough left in the tank to close out the comeback victory.

Geneva went on a 9-0 run that trimmed a 56-46 lead down to a single point midway through the second half. The turning point for the Golden Tornadoes came from a series of 3-point shots a few minutes later. With the Gators clinging to a 62-61 advantage, Ryan Rachic and Trevor Tipton combined for 3-pointers on four consecutive Geneva possessions that put the hosts up 73-67 with under five minutes to go. 

The loss overshadowed two strong halves by Sitter and Barker, who produced 50 of Allegheny's 74 points. Sitter had the hot hand with four 3-pointers in the first half. The junior led all players with 15 points in the opening half and finished with 21, including a 6-of-9 (66.7%) showing from beyond the arc. In the second half, the offense ran through Barker. The senior guard netted 25 of his game-high-tying 29 points in the final 20 minutes. Barker added four treys of his own, three of which came in the second stanza.

Inside the Box Score

• Geneva couldn't miss in the second half, shooting 22-of-28 (78.6%) in the period and 62.3% (33-of-53) overall.
• Allegheny shot 45.3% (24-of-53) from the field and 46.4% (13-of-28) from 3-point range.
• The two teams combined for only three missed free throws, while the Gators were near perfect with 13 makes on 14 tries (92.9%).
• The Gators committed fewer turnovers, 10-to-7, but the Golden Tornadoes grabbed more rebounds, 30-to-21.
• Barker scored 25 of his team-high 29 points in the second half.
• Barker also had a game-high three steals with three rebounds and two assists.
• Sitter added 21 points, five rebounds, and one assist.
• Six of Sitter's seven field goals were 3-pointers.
• Jayson Perry (Tampa, Fla./Sickles) scored 11 points with a team-high six assists, three rebounds, and one block.
• Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) had eight points, five rebounds, and two assists.
• Ryan Rachic was one of four Golden Tornadoes to reach double-digit points and tied Barker for with a game-high 29 points.
• Mark Rachic had 16 points, seven boards, and seven dimes for Geneva.

News and Notes

• Sitter made six 3-point field goals, just two shy of the all-time single-game record, for the second time this season; he was 6-of-11 from deep against Muskingum University on December 17.
• Sitter reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season.
• Barker, the PAC's leading scorer, has scored double-digit points in seven consecutive games while surpassing 20 points in six of those contests.
• Barker became only the sixth player in program history to reach 1,300 career points and now ranks sixth all-time with 1,315 points.

Up Next
The Gators will return to the David V. Wise Center on Saturday, February 1, for a 3:00 p.m. PAC matchup against Waynesburg University.