Box Score SALT LAKE CITY – Tournament time is always a struggle and it played the part on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House as No. 6 Westminster escaped with a 71-69 win over Montana Tech. The top-seeded Griffins (26-4) held off a late rally and when Jeramie Hopson grabbed a Brian Davidson missed three at the buzzer, Westminster had held off the eighth-seeded Orediggers.

“It was a great game. Montana Tech played terrific,” Westminster head coach Tommy Connor said. “This time of year is win and advance and luckily we won.”

The first half saw two ties and four lead changes with neither team leading by more than five points over the first 15 minutes. Westminster ended the half on a 10-3 run, capped by a Hopson 30-footer at the buzzer to carry a 39-31 lead into the intermission. Hopson scored all 14 of his points in the opening 20 minutes and was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc in the half.

“My legs felt good and I needed to get us started,” Hopson commented. “Since Wes (Anderson) has been out coach told me to be more assertive and that is what I've been doing.”

Westminster controlled the paint all night, posting a 46-22 advantage down low. Geoff Payne finished with a game high 23 points while collecting seven rebounds. Westminster shot 50.9% from the field and connected on five from distance. No 3-pointer was bigger than the one by Jordan Jacobs at the 3:23 mark. That put ahead 63-61 and they never looked back.

“We knew we were going to have a battle on our hands,” Payne stated. “Right now any victory you get is big because it's one-and-done.”

Josh Monagle led Tech (8-21) with 18 points and nine rebounds. They used 53.7% shooting and just 12 turnovers to hang around all night. The Tech reserves accounted for 36 points and they put together 16 second chance points behind 10 offensive rebounds.

Westminster will now face fourth-seeded Carroll on Saturday, March 7. Carroll escaped Salt Lake with a 78-71 win on February 21, the only home loss of the season for Westminster. That semi-final game will tipoff from the Behnken Field House at 7:00 p.m.