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This Week
The 12th-ranked Westminster men's basketball teams travels to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2009 Las Vegas Hoopla this weekend. The Griffins will face Notre Dame College on Friday, December 18 at 4 p.m. They take on William Jewell on Saturday, December 19 in a 6 p.m. game. Both games will be played at the Centennial Hills Community Center.

Westminster enters the week at 6-4 overall and winners of three straight. They haven't played since an 81-62 defeat of St. Thomas (Fla.) on December 5 in the Behnken Field House. This season, the Griffins have gone 2-2 in games away from home, including 1-2 in games played on a neutral court.

Westminster is scoring 73.6 points per game while shooting 47.1% from the field through the first 10 games of the season. They distribute the ball well, averaging 15.2 assists per game and have a 1.07 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively the Griffins limit the opposition to just 66.4 points per game and allow them to shoot just 40.3%. Westminster opponents shoot just 30.5% from 3-point territory and collect just 32.7 rebounds per night.

Blair Prowse leads the team, and ranks third in the Frontier Conference, with his 16.8 points per game average. Prowse ranks in the top 20 in the conference in eight statistical categories and is second with his 2.8 makes from beyond the arc per game. Weston Anderson averages 14.1 points per night and is fourth in the Frontier with 4.1 assists per night. Ben Walker is third on the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game. Walker leads the conference in free throw shooting, making 85.7% of his attempts.

Live Video
There will be Live Video available for both games at the Las Vegas Hoopla. The service is being provided by Trip Sports through Stretch Internet. The games are available for a fee of $8.95 per game and will begin approximately ten minutes prior to the start of each game. Fans can access the feed by visiting westminstergriffins.com.

Men's Basketball Fast Break
•The current three-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Griffins.

•This is the sixth time in 11 seasons under Coach Connor the teams has started the season 6-4. Only three times have they posted a better start, led by the 10-0 record last season.

•Westminster currently site 17th in the nation by shooting 71.5% from the foul line.

About Notre Dame College
Notre Dame College departs Cleveland for Las Vegas with a 7-3 overall record. They opened the season with seven consecutive victories, but have lost three straight. They went 0-2 at the Crusader Classic last weekend, dropping games to Madonna University and Michigan-Dearborn. Eric Dummermuth leads the team and ranks sixth in the NAIA D2 with his 24.3 points per game. His 99 rebounds and 19 steals are also tops on the team. Nick McCartney and Curtis McClure also average double figures in scoring at 11.8 and 10.1 points per game respectively.

About William Jewell
William Jewell from Liberty, Missouri, enters the Hoopla with a 5-4 record and winners of two straight. They defeated MidAmerica Nazarene 62-58 in their last outing on December 12. They lost four consecutive games prior to their current two-game winning streak. Nick Larson leads the team in scoring at 19 points per game, and is sixth in the nation grabbing 7.6 defensive rebounds per night. He ranks 10th nationally in total rebounds with his 10.3 per game average while shooting 56.5% from the floor, the 26th-best field goal percentage in the NAIA.

Inside the Series with…
Notre Dame College
Series Record: First meeting
Current Streak: First meeting
Last Meeting: First meeting

William Jewell
Series Record: William Jewell leads 1-0
Current Streak: William Jewell 1 win
Last Meeting: William Jewell def. Westminster, 74-62 (11/4/0)

Getting Defensive
Westminster has been using its defense to help them win games this season. They allow the opposition to score just 66.4 points per game while shooting 40.3% from the floor. They rank in the top 30 in each of those categories. Griffin opponents average 14.9 turnovers per game and get outrebounded by 4.0 rebounds per night. Westminster limits the opponent to just 30.9% from beyond the arc to lead the Frontier Conference and rank 30th nationally.

The Griffins have three individuals that rank in the top seven in the Frontier in steals. Blair Prowse is second grabbing two steals per game. Jeramie Hopson ranks fifth with his 1.9 per game average while Michael Stockton is seventh at 1.8 thefts per game. Ben Walker is 28th nationally with 1.4 blocks per night and leads the team by grabbing 43 defensive rebounds.

On the Prowse
Senior Blair Prowse is having a great start to the season after missing most of 2008-09 with an injury. He is ranked in the top 20 in eight categories and leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game. His 43.1% field goal percentage is ninth-best in the conference and he is second with 2.8 makes from deep. He can also be found in the top 20 in rebounds, steals, blocks, and assist/turnover ratio. Prowse has reached double figures in scoring during nine of the 10 games played this season, and has been the team leader in that department five times.

A Walker to Remember
JC transfer Ben Walker has flourished during his first 10 games as a Griffin. Walker currently ranks third on the team with 136 points and is tops on the squad with his 64 rebounds. From the line Walker is solid, shooting 85.7% to rank 27th in the country and first in the Frontier Conference. Walker has recorded two double-doubles through the opening month and has reached double figures in scoring in five consecutive contests,

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 is currently ranked No. 12 in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll that was released on December 14. The Griffins climbed one spot from No. 13 in the December 7 poll. Westminster received 189 points in the recent poll that has Mountain State (W.Va.) as the nation's No. 1 team. The Griffins began the season at No. 9 in the preseason poll. The next poll will be released on January 11.

Next Week
Westminster will take some time off for the holidays before returning to action on December 29 against Southwestern Ariz.). That game is part of the Grand Canyon Classic in Phoenix, Arizona that sees the Griffins face Wisconsin-Platteville on December 30. Both games will be played on the campus of Southwestern College.