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SALT LAKE CITY – The sixth-ranked Westminster men's basketball team will play two tough road games against teams from the Golden State Athletic Conference this weekend. Westminster will begin the trip in San Diego to face Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday, December 18. The Griffins will then head to Azusa, Calif. to battle No. 10 Azusa Pacific on Monday, December 20. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m. (PT).

Westminster will head to California with a perfect 10-0 record. This is just the second time in school history the team has opened the year with 10 consecutive victories with the other coming at the start of the 2008-09 season. No Westminster team has ever won 11 straight games to begin a season. The Griffins last played on December 4 when they defeated William Jessup 89-72 to complete a sweep of the Warriors.

The Griffins rank sixth nationally shooting 52% from the field and third nationally by shooting 76.1% from the foul line. The team is averaging 80.8 points per game to rank second in the Frontier Conference and 24th in the NAIA. Defensively they limit the opponent to 66.2 point per game and only 40.6% shooting.

Looking for History at Point Loma
Westminster will look to start the season 11-0 for the first time in school history when they face Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday. The Sea Lions have started the year 6-4 and picked up a 91-52 win over Milligan College on Tuesday. They entered the week ninth in the NAIA in field goal percentage at 50.4% and 18th in scoring offense at 84.4 points per game. Marek Klassen leads the team in scoring at 15 points per game while ranking inside the top 50 nationally in steals, field goal percentage, and assists.

Rematch with Azusa Pacific
Monday's game at Azusa Pacific is a rematch of a second round game between the two teams at last season's NAIA National Championships. Azusa knocked the Griffins out of the tournament with a 65-51 win last March on the way to a runner-up finish at the tournament. This season APU has started 7-2 and are riding a two-game winning streak. They defeated Point Loma in double overtime 108-104 in their last outing on December 11. The Cougars are fourth nationally in assists at 19.9 per game while placing 12th in scoring offense with an average of 86.2 points per contest. Reggie Owens leads the team in scoring with an 18.3 per game average while leading the nation with his 73.1% field goal percentage.

Live Media
Both games of the road trip will be available to watch online. Fans can access the live streaming video by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com and clicking on the Live Video link in the calendar. Live Stats will also be available for both games and can be accessed the same way. You can also find the live feeds by visiting PLNUSeaLions.com or apu.eud/athletics.

Fast Start
For just the second time on school history the Griffins have started a season 10-0. They began the 2008-09 season with 10 consecutive victories before falling in game 11. That season they finished 30-5 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championships. The 10 consecutive wins are also just four shy is matching the school record of 14 consecutive wins set last season. This 10-game winning streak is tied for the third longest in school history.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is ranked third in the Massey Computer Ratings that were released on Monday. The Griffins have a rating of 1.163 and moved up two spots from the previous rating. The Frontier Conference is rated as the third-best conference wit Carroll (12th) and Montana Western (24th) also rated in the top 25. Point Loma is rated 30th while Azusa Pacific sits fourth. According to the Massey Predictor, Westminster has a 68% chance of beating PLNU and a 31% chance of winning at APU. All the ratings can be found at www.masseyrating.com.

NAIA Coaches' Poll
The Westminster men's basketball team moved up one spot to No. 6 in the second regular-season edition of the 2010-11 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced on December 13. Westminster received 254 points in the poll to rank in the top 10 for the sixth time in the last seven polls dating back to last season. The No. 6 ranking is the highest of the season and they have now been ranked in the top 10 a total of 22 times since the end of the 2004-05 season.

Climbing the Charts
Senior guard Michael Stockton sits fifth in school history with 216 career assists. He needs 84 dimes to become just the third player in Griffin history to record 300 career assists and is just 18 away from moving into third place in school history. Stockton has also recorded 115 steals in his career to rank third at Westminster. He currently needs 50 swipes to become the school's all-time leader. With 19 guaranteed games left on the schedule, Stockton is on pace for 40 more steals giving him 155 career. He is also on pace to finish with 298 career assists.

Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 65-6 at home. The .915 winning percentage is tops in the Frontier Conference during that time. The Griffins are a perfect 6-0 at home this season. Westminster is 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 games last year, marking the second time they have been perfect at home in conference games.

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.

Back-to-Back = No Problem
The 2010-11 schedule features eight back-to-back contests for the Griffins. Westminster swept the first five of these situations this season and won't face another back-to-back until February 4 and 5 at Montana Western and Montana Tech.

Looking Ahead
The Griffins will return to action on December 29 when they face Indiana Wesleyan at the Grand Canyon Classic in Phoenix. Westminster will also face Shawnee State at the classic on December 30.