BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – December 4, 2021 – The Chatham men's basketball team engaged in a seesaw battle with Geneva Saturday afternoon. In a game that featured 16 lead changes, eight by each team, the Cougars were on the wrong end of an 81-79 decision. The loss marks the first of the season for Chatham, putting its record at 6-1 on the young year.
 
The Cougars got off to a slow start, falling behind by double digits early in the first half. Chatham then mounted a furious comeback to nab the lead late. Geneva finished the first half on a 5-0 run to go up 38-33, marking the first halftime deficit of the season for the Cougars.
 
The second half was once again a tight 20 minutes with similar results. Geneva jumped out to a nine-point lead that would hover around that mark in the first 10 minutes. Senior Nick Bomar snatched the lead for Chatham with 6:20 to play. Both teams traded leads late, but a basket with 18 seconds left and a foul made the score 81-79 in the final seconds. Following a Chatham timeout, a three-point play was drawn up that ended up being missed, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season.
 
The Cougars shot 41% from the floor and had a season-high 38 points in the paint and 13 second chance points. However, what did Chatham in was the hot shooting of the hosting Golden Tornadoes, finishing at just under 53%.
 
Senior Malik Potter scored a team-high 21 points on 8-21 from the floor. Junior Marcos Cintron and first-year Blaine Gartley had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Cintron finished with four assists, while Potter, Gartley and Bomar pulled down six rebounds apiece.
 
Chatham has a two-week layoff before traveling to Penn State New Kensington on Saturday, December 18 with a 1:00 tip.