BEREA, OHIO --  Freshman forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored a career-high 20 points, but the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team host to Geneva College, 74-68, tonight (Tuesday, November 23, 2010) in Geneva, Pennsylvania.

With its win, Geneva now 3-0 overall, was led junior guard Drew Santarsiero, the son of Golden Tornado Head Coach Jeff Santarsiero, led the way with 17 points. He was joined in double figures by senior forward Richard Colick with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds and senior guard Bryan Hill with 10 points.

For BW, now 1-2 overall, Payne led the way as he canned 7-of-9 shots from the floor, including 2-of-3 three-pointers, and 4-of-5 foul shots for his 20 markers. He was joined in double figures by junior point guard Promis Cabbil (Elyria/ Senior) with 12 points, including 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line.

In the first half, the Golden Tornadoes opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the game when Hill nailed a three-pointer off the pass from senior guard Brandon Sopko.  The Yellow Jackets got on the board and trailed 3-1 when senior guard Zane Meeder (Erie, Pa./ Fairview) split a pair of free throws at 19:02.  Geneva then outscored BW 7-2 over the next three minutes to lead 10-3.

The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to three points, at 10-7, when Cabbil and Meeder each hit a pair of layups with Meeder's coming at 14:10.  The BW defense held the Golden Tornadoes scoreless for over three minutes and trailed 12-7 before Geneva sophomore guard DJ Damazo scored on a layup at 12:49.  The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to just two points at 12-10 when Payne buried a three-pointer with 12:30 remaining in the first half.

Geneva regained a seven-point lead at 17-10 when Colick made a layup at 9:03.  BW snapped a three-minute scoreless streak when junior guard Scott Voiers (Westlake/ Lutheran West) hit a jumper at 8:53 to make the score 17-12.  The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to just one point at 19-18 when Payne scored on the layup off the assist from Cabbil at 6:09.

The Golden Tornadoes extended their lead to seven points on two more occasions with the last at 27-20 with 4:23 left when senior guard Jon Drayer made a layup

Then Payne scored five of the next six Yellow Jackets points to cut the lead to three points at 29-26 with 2:17 remaining.  Geneva outscored the Yellow Jackets 6-3 to lead 35-29 before freshman guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland/ Senior) hit his second three-pointer of the season to cut the lead back to three points at 35-32 with 50 seconds left before halftime.  The Golden Tornadoes closed out the first half scoring on a traditional three-point play by  Drew Santarsiero to lead 38-32 at the intermission.

In the second half, the Golden Tornadoes extended their lead to 11 points, at 47-36 with 16:25 left in the game when Sopko made a jump shot.

The Yellow Jackets then went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 47-44 with 14:19 left when Cabbill made two foul shots.  Undaunted, the Golden Tornadoes ended a 2:22 scoreless streak at 14:03 when Santarsiero hit a three-pointer to increase the lead back to 50-44.  Geneva then went on a 6-0 run to extend its lead to a game-high 12 points at 56-44 with 10:26 left in the game.

BW came right back when sophomore guard Bradon Schmidt (Wellington) hit a three-pointer at 10:15 to cut the lead to 56-47.  The Yellow Jackets then outscored Geneva 12-5 to cut the lead to just two points at 61-59 with 4:35 left when freshman center Aaron Selmek (Delaware/ Columbus St. Francis deSales) made two foul shots.

A basket by Sopko and two foul shots by junior guard Dave Phillips pushed Genbeva's lead back to six points at 65-59 with 3:54 left. The closest BW would get after that point was four points on four separate occassions with the last at 72-68 with 12 seconds left when Cabbil made a layup.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Sunday, Nov. 28 when they host traditional rival Hiram College in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 7:00 p.m.  BW remains home to open 2010-11 Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, December 1 against rival Heidelberg University in the Ursprung Gym at 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.