Box Score BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team capped a 13-1 Frontier Conference championship season with an 81-77 win over Lewis-Clark State on Saturday night in the Behnken Field House. No. 4 Westminster held off a late LC State (14-14, 5-9) rally to finish the regular season at 23-5.

“We capped off a remarkable conference season,” head coach Tommy Connor said. “I feel this group has really overachieved and to run through the conference like we did is unbelievable. I couldn't be prouder of this team for accomplishing their goals set in the preseason”

The game looked like it was going to get out of hand early as Westminster scored the first 13 points of the game and led 18-3 less than six minutes into the contest. LC State kept battling in the first half and eventually cut the lead to five late in the opening stanza. The Warriors then used a 15-6 run to start the second half to even the game at 46 and then with 5:08 remaining the score was tied for the fourth time at 64. A quick 5-0 run over the next 90 second put the Griffins ahead for good.

“It was good to play a close game,” Connor said of the first single digit victory since January 30. “We needed a game like this to get us ready for the tournament.”

Westminster shot 54.7% from the floor in the game and was 8-of-14 from beyond the arc. They controlled the glass to a 30-26 advantage and committed just 12 turnovers. The Griffins recorded 22 assists on 29 field goals and had 38 points in the paint. Defensively they forced LC State into 13 turnovers and turned them into 16 points.

Blair Prowse led the attack for Westminster with 25 points including 7-of-8 from beyond the arc. His first basket was an and-one in the opening minutes and from there he was automatic from deep, sinking three from four feet behind the line. Ben Walker chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 6.7 second remaining. Weston Anderson posted 13 points and a career high nine assists.

This was the final regular season game for Westminster seniors Anderson, Jeramie Hopson, Conner Nielsen, and Prowse. Hopson finished with eight points and Nielsen added six points.

Daniel William led the Warriors with 21 points while grabbing four rebounds. Markus Monroe and James Craft finished with 17 and 13 points respectively off the bench. As a team, LC State shot 55.8% from the field and had six triples.

Westminster now gets ready for the opening round of the 2010 Frontier Conference Tournament which they enter as the No. 1 seed with home court advantage throughout. The action begins on Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. in the Behnken Field House against No. 8 seed Great Falls.