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SALT LAKE CITY – The 12th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team begins the 2010-11 season with two games at the Westminster Tipoff Classic presented by Sports Med Utah. Westminster will begin against San Diego Christian on Friday, November 5. The Griffins will then face Olivet Nazarene on Saturday, November 6. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m. and take place in the Behnken Field House on the campus of Westminster College.
Westminster is the three-time defending Frontier Conference champions and they return nine players from a team that went 27-6 last season. Along with repeating as Frontier Tournament champions, the Griffins advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Championships a year ago.
San Diego Christian opens to season against Westminster on Friday night. They went 7-23 last season and finished tied for eighth in the Golden State Athletic Conference with a 5-15 record. The Hawks will welcome 12 new players to the roster this season under the direction of head coach Conrad Sun. Westminster is 3-0 all-time against San Diego Christian with the teams last meeting in 2008.
Olivet Nazarene will visit Salt Lake City for the first time this weekend. They began the season with an 87-76 win over Point Loma Nazarene on October 29. Cory Hainlen scored 27 points to lead the Tigers in the opener with Matt Funkhouser adding 19 points off the bench. They will face Rocky Mountain College on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the tournament opener. The game with Westminster will be the first meeting all-time between the two schools.
Griffins TV
The Westminster Athletics Department recently partnered with Penn Atlantic to provide fans the opportunity to watch home athletic events live on the internet. Griffins TV will broadcast select Westminster events for FREE for fans to watch on their computers. All Westminster women's basketball home games will be available on Griffins TV with Mike Lageschulte providing the play-by-play. For a complete schedule visit WestminsterGriffins.com/GriffinsTV.
Live Stats
All home games this season will feature Live Stats. The feed goes live shortly before first serve so fans can get all the action directly on their computer or mobile device. Visit www.WestminsterGriffins.com to access the Live Stats.
Offensive Notebook
>Westminster ranked sixth in the NAIA infield goal percentage last season at 49.6% while scoring 71.4 points per game.
>The 2009-10 Griffins had a 1.258 assist/turnover ratio to rank fifth nationally.
>With 526 assists and a per game average of 15.9, Westminster led the Frontier Conference in both categories.
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Ben Walker finished second nationally with a 67.7% field goal percentage.
>Walker was sixth in the Frontier in scoring at 15.42 points per contest.
Defensive Notebook
>Westminster allowed just 62 points per game to lead the Frontier and rank fifth nationally last season.
>Griffin opponents shot just 40.9% from the field last season and 32.6% from three-point range.
>Westminster opponents committed 14.4 turnovers per game with a 0.79 assist/turnover ratio.
>Walker blocked 49 shots last season and is already the career blocked shot leader at Westminster.
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Michael Stockton recorded 52 steals to lead all returners from last season.
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
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 faced 10 back-to-back situations last season and won both games five times. They split the two games four times and were swept just once. The Griffins went 8-2 in the first game with a 6-4 record in the second game.
Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 59-6 at home. The .908 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
The Griffins head to Las Vegas for two games at the Las Vegas Classic. Westminster will play two teams from the Golden State Athletic Conference, beginning with Vanguard on November 12. Fresno Pacific is the opponent on November 13.
