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This Week
The No. 9 Westminster men's basketball team heads to Las Vegas, Nevada to play in the Las Vegas Classic. They open on Friday, November 13, when they face No. 8 Concordia (Calif.). They also face No. 3 Fresno Pacific on Saturday, November 14. All games will be played at Desert Oasis High School.

Westminster (1-1) is coming off an opening weekend that saw them split two games in the Behnken Field House. They opened the year with a 68-53 win over in-state for Dixie State. That was followed with an 82-72 loss to No. 18 (D2) Warner Pacific.

Through the first two games of the season, Westminster is averaging 70 points per game which is fifth in the Frontier Conference. They connected on 43.8% of their field goal attempts and 26.3% from 3-point range. The Griffins limited their opponents to 67.5 points per night and 38.3% shooting which is 30th in the country. Westminster ranks 28th in the country with a 1.03 assist/turnover ratio and 46th in assists at 15 per game.

Weston Anderson posted 40 points during the first two games to lead all Griffins. Anderson set a career high with 22 points in the season opener against Dixie State. Ben Walker reached double figures in scoring in both games and led the team with 17 rebounds and three blocks during opening weekend. Jeramie Hopson is tops on the team with nine assists and leads the Frontier Conference with seven steals.

Live Stats
Live stats will be available for all games this weekend. You can access the live stats at http://live.cuieagles.com/xlive.htm.

Men's Basketball Fast Break
•This is the fifth time since 1999 that the Griffins have started a season 1-1 and just the second in seven seasons.

•Westminster went 17-4 in games away from the Behnken Field House last season, including 9-1 in games played on a neutral court.

•The Griffins went 5-0 against ranked teams last season and picked up an 89-81 victory over No. 9 Concordia (Calif.) on November 15, 2008.

About No. 8 Concordia (Calif.)
Concordia (Calif.) begins their 2009-10 season when they face the Griffins on Friday evening. They are ranked No. 8 in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Poll after going 28-7 and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship last season. They return eight players and two starters from last year's team.

About No. 3 Fresno Pacific
Fresno Pacific heads to Vegas with a 2-0 record and ranked No. 3 in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Poll. They picked up wins over Holy Names and Southern Oregon over the past two weekends. They are currently 10th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 55.5 points per contest.

Inside the Series with…
Concordia (Calif.)
Series Record: Westminster leads, 4-3
Current Streak: Westminster 1 win
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Concordia (11/15/08)

Fresno Pacific
Series Record: Westminster leads, 2-0
Current Streak: Westminster 2 wins
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Fresno Pacific 82-53 (11/4/05)

Getting Defensive
Through the first two games of the season, Westminster ranks 45th nationally in scoring defense. The Griffins are allowing just 67.5 points per game and hold opponents to 38.3% shooting. They also held their first two opponents to just 32.6% shooting from 3-point territory. Westminster grabbed 28 defensive rebounds per game to rank 35th nationally.

Pass Happy
Westminster is back to spreading the ball around again through two games this season. The Griffins averaged 15 assists per contest last weekend and rank 46th in the country in that department. They opened the year with 18 assists against Dixie State. The team is also 28th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 1.034.

Jeramie Hopson is currently fourth in the Frontier Conference with an average of 4.5 assists per game. That places him 32nd in the country in assists. Hopson posted six assists in the game against Dixie State. His 4.5 assist/turnover ratio is currently the 16th best ratio in the NAIA.

On the Prowse
Senior Blair Prowse had a great start to the season after missing most of 2008-09 with an injury. Prowse posted 21 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the season opener against Dixie State. He followed that up with 15 points and six rebounds against Warner Pacific. He averages three makes from beyond the arc per game and ranks 20th nationally in that category.

A Walker to Remember
Westminster junior Ben Walker got his Griffin career off to a strong start last weekend. Walker had 11 points and six rebounds in the opener against Dixie State. He followed that up with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the game with Warner Pacific. His inside presence helped the Griffins to a 64-44 advantage in points in the paint, including a 28-14 cushion against Dixie State. Walker shot 11-of-22 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the line in the first two games.

Coaches Like the Griffins
The Westminster men's basketball team was selected to win the Frontier Conference according to a poll of the conference coaches. The Griffins received 47 total points and five first-place votes in the poll of the eight conference coaches. Defending NAIA national champion Rocky Mountain College finished second with 44 points and three first-place votes.

In the Polls
The Westminster men's basketball team received a No. 9 national ranking in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll that was released on October 26. The Griffins received 232 total points in the poll. The No. 9 ranking is the highest for the team to start a season ever, and the 12th consecutive poll they have been in the top 10. The previous high to start a season was 13th in 2006 and 2008.

Next Week
Next weekend the Griffins head to Caldwell, Idaho for the Golden Rule Shootout that is hosted by the College of Idaho. The Griffins face Northwest (Wash.) on November 20 and College of Idaho on November 21.