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SALT LAKE CITY – The 12th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team is off to Caldwell, Idaho for the 11th-straight appearance at the Golden Rule Shootout hosted by the College of Idaho. Westminster has won the event three consecutive years and six times overall. They will face Warner Pacific on Friday, November 19 in the 6 p.m. game. The Griffins play the host squad at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 20.

The Griffins head to Idaho with a 4-0 record this season and 2-0 in games away from the Behnken Field House. They are averaging 77.2 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Jake Orchard leads the Griffin sin scoring at 19 ppg and is shooting 64.3%. Michael Stockton averages 17.3 points a contest while Tanner Gregory (10.8) and Jordan Bjornberg (10.3) are also in double figures. Gregory leads the team with 31 rebounds.

Round One with Warner Pac
Friday's game with Warner Pacific is the first of two meetings this season with the Oregon team. The Knights will visit Westminster for the Thanksgiving Classic and face the Griffins on November 26. The teams are 1-1 all-time in two meetings with Warner Pacific picking up an 82-72 win in Salt Lake City last season. WPC heads to Caldwell with a 3-0 record and averaging 80 points per game. Sean Gaines leads the team in scoring at 17.67 ppg while shooting 62.5%.

Common Foe in the Coyotes
Saturday's game with the College of Idaho is the 20th all-time meeting between the Griffins and Yotes. Westminster holds a slight 10-9 lead in the series after the two teams split two games last year. This will be just the second time since 2000 that two teams will only meet once in a season. The C of I enters the Shootout with a 2-3 record after dropping a 55-54 decision with Northwest Nazarene on November 9. Kelly McCarty leads the Yotes in scoring at 11.8 ppg with Matt Ballenger at 10.4 and Krispin Banks at 10 ppg.

Griffins TV
Fans can now watch all Westminster home basketball games live online at Griffins TV. Mike Lageschulte will call the play-by-play with Lance Barton providing color commentary. The pregame show begins approximately 15 minutes prior to tipoff with Coach Connor appearing in the postgame show. To watch the game, visit WestminsterGriffins.com and click on the Griffins TV link. The four games of the Golden Rule Shootout will be available to watch online at coi.nmtvsports.com.

Live Stats
All home games this season will feature Live Stats at WestminsterGriffins.com. The feed goes live shortly before tipoff so fans can get all the action directly on their computer or mobile device. The games this weekend will feature Live Stats and be available at yotestats.i8.com/basketball/xlive.htm.

Last Weekend Recap
The 12th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team picked up two wins at the Las Vegas Shootout over the weekend. Westminster defeated Vanguard 85-49 on Friday night and then picked up a 71-58 decision over Fresno Pacific on Saturday. Against Vanguard, Westminster shot 52.7% from the field and finished with a 51-35 rebounding advantage. Jake Orchard led four Griffins in double figures with 20 points. He went 9 of 12 from the floor with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

In Saturday's game with Fresno Pacific, Westminster used a strong first half to carry them to victory. The Griffins shot 51.7% from the floor in the first 20 minutes and held a 40-28 lead at intermission. Westminster committed just nine turnovers and went 21 of 23 at the foul line. Orchard finished with a game-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Fast Start
The 4-0 start by the Griffins is just the second 4-0 start in school history. Westminster started the 2008-09 season with 10 straight victories and that is the only other time the team has been 4-0. Last season, Westminster started the season 1-3 and they have only been 3-1 through four games six times prior to this season.

Conference Tabs Orchard as Player of the Week
Jake Orchard of Westminster College was named the Frontier Conference men's basketball Player of the Week. Orchard wins for the first time in his career and is the first Griffin to claim the honor this season. Orchard is a 6-foot-4, sophomore forward from Salt Lake City, Utah. He averaged 23 points and eight rebounds. He was 17 of 25 from the field (68 percent).

Coaches Pick Griffins
The Westminster men's basketball team was projected to win a fourth consecutive Frontier Conference championship based on a poll of the eight conference coaches that was released by the conference today. Westminster received six first-place votes and 48 total points in the poll. Montana State-Northern was selected to finish second behind the Griffins with 34 points followed by Rocky Mountain College in third with 33.5 points and Carroll College in fourth with 32.5 points. Carroll received the other two first place votes.

In the Polls
The Westminster men's basketball team received a No. 12 national ranking in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. Westminster received 188 points to rank 12th and tie with Lee University (Tenn.) for that position. The Griffins finished last season with a No. 4 ranking. Westminster has now been ranked in 25 consecutive polls released by the NAIA and received votes in 41 straight polls. The last poll not featuring Westminster receiving at least one point was released on January 31, 2007.

Back-to-Back = No Problem
The 2010-11 schedule features eight back-to-back contests for the Griffins. The first five of these situations happen in the first five weekends of the season. The Griffins have swept both back-to-back situations they have played this year. In 10 back-to-backs last season, Westminster recorded five sweeps, four splits, and one winless stretch.

Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 61-6 at home. The .910 winning percentage is tops in the Frontier Conference. Westminster has gone 32-3 (.914) at home in Frontier Conference action in Behnken. The two home losses last season was the first time the team had lost twice at home in a season in that time span. The Griffins were 7-0 at home in Frontier play last year, marking the second time they have been perfect at home in conference games.

Next Week
Westminster returns to the Behnken Field House to play host to the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic. The Griffins will face Warner Pacific on Friday, November 26 and Colorado Christian on Saturday, November 27. Both games for the Griffins will begin at 7:30 p.m. and follow the 5:30 p.m. game between Montana Tech and the opponent Westminster isn't facing.