WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team rallied back from a 15-point first half deficit and took the lead in the game's final seven minutes, but the Red and Black could not overcome a hot-shooting Geneva squad and fell 79-77 in the PAC Tournament quarterfinals.
 
The Salvitti Family Gymnasium played host to W&J's first home quarterfinals matchup since 2011, and the Presidents and Golden Tornadoes gave the raucous crowd a show the entire second half as neither team led by double-digits over the game's final 20 minutes.
 
The Presidents quickly took their first lead of the contest less than three minutes into the second half, as W&J put together a 6-0 run on baskets by Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic), Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) to give W&J a 33-32 edge. After Geneva retook the lead by a point, DeVito knocked in the three to put the Presidents ahead again 36-34 with 16:11 to play.
 
Geneva used a three-point play and a pair of three-pointers to power a 9-2 spurt to establish at 43-38 advantage with 14:33 left.
 
A three by Geneva's RJ Bell with 11:53 remaining pushed the Golden Tornados advantage to its largest of the second half, 48-40.
 
Seemann poured in five-straight points on consecutive possessions and Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) made a pair of free throws to make the margin 51-47 GT with 10 minutes left in the contest.
 
Geneva extended its lead back up to six points with four-straight points by Lyle Tipton, but W&J roared back with eight-straight points to take a 57-55 lead. DeVito buried a three, and Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) scored five-consecutive points, three from the foul line, to give the Presidents a 57-55 lead with 7:12 left.
 
Geneva quickly tied the game at 57 with a basket from Ethan Moose, and GT retook the lead on another three by Bell with 6:23 to go.
 
Zach Queen (Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield Area) connected on a pair of layups to bring the Presidents back within one with just under six minutes to play, but Geneva converted another three, this from Isaac Massie. Massie added another basket on the next trip down the floor to push Geneva ahead 65-59 with 5:18 left.
 
W&J scored six of the next eight points to narrow the deficit to two with under three minutes left. Agbale muscled in for a layup and converted a pair of clutch free throws before Zini's bucket with 2:50 to play.
 
With Geneva leading 67-65, the Golden Tornadoes buried their next two shots and a free throw to go up seven with 1:18 left.
 
In the final minute of play, Geneva shot seven-of-10 from the free throw line to ice the game. Seemann converted a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to bring W&J within three, 77-74, but Geneva was able to inbound the ball and make a free throw. Queen sank a three at the final buzzer to make the final score 79-77 Geneva.
 
The Golden Tornadoes opened an early double-digit advantage thanks to four-of-five three-point shooting to open the game. Geneva's Matt Veynovich and Joel Stutz each buried a pair of triples as the Golden Tornadoes built a 14-4 advantage over the game's first 6:06.
 
Geneva's lead swelled to as many as 15 points, as the Golden Tornadoes led 21-6 after RJ Bell made Geneva's fifth three with 12:03 left in the first half.
 
The teams exchanged baskets over the next four-and-a-half minutes as Geneva held a slight 11-9 edge over the span and increased its lead to 29-15 with 5:38 remaining in the first.
 
A three from Queen at 5:21 kickstarted a 12-1 W&J run over the final minutes of the first half. The Presidents bullied their way into the paint, with Zini, Seamann and Mitchell all scoring at the rim. All but two of the Presidents' made field goals and 20 of 27 first-half points for W&J were scored in the paint.
 
Geneva capped the first half scoring with an Ethan Moose bucket in the final minute and Geneva carried a 32-27 lead into halftime.   
 
Zini scored a game-high 18 points on seven-of-11 shooting and was four-of-five from the foul line. Seemann poured in 16 points, while Agbale had 15 points and six rebounds. DeVito had a dozen points and Queen had eight.
 
Geneva made a season-high 11 threes on 25 attempts (44 percent) in the victory. Moose and Bell paced the Golden Tornadoes with 14 points apiece.
 
Geneva advances to the PAC Semifinals and will play second-seeded Chatham on Thursday evening. The Presidents await a potential ECAC Tournament bid.