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SALT LAKE CITY – The 22nd-ranked Westminster men's basketball team welcomes nationally ranked Lewis-Clark State College to town for the only game this week. No. 24 LCSC comes to the Behnken Field House on Saturday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Westminster brings a 14-4 overall record into the game and is 2-2 in the Frontier Conference. After starting the year with 11 straight wins, Westminster has now gone 3-4 in the last seven outings. They split games on the road last week dropping a game at Carroll on January 13 before defeating Rocky Mountain 82-66 on January 15. The Griffins are 1-1 against ranked opponents this year and defeated No. 22 Montana Western in the last home game.

Westminster is averaging 76.8 points per game to rank third in the Frontier and 34th nationally. The Griffins are shooting a conference-best 48.5% from the field and have a 1.12 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively they hold the opposition to 66.4 points per game and 42.1% shooting.

Michael Stockton leads the team in scoring at 18.9 points per game and leads the conference in shooting at 56.7%. He also ranks second in the conference in assists and fourth in steals. Jake Orchard scores 16.6 points per game and shoots 54.2%. Orchard averages 2.3 steals per game and ranks third in the conference. Tanner Gregory collects 6.1 rebounds per night to lead the Griffins and rank sixth in the conference.

About the Warriors
Lewis-Clark State comes to town with a 13-4 overall record and atop the Frontier Conference with a 3-1 record. They are coming off an 82-77 loss at Carroll that snapped a five-game winning streak for the Warriors. LCSC averages 81.5 points per game and makes 7.1 threes per contest. They shoot 45.2% from the floor and 35.8% from beyond the arc. David Johnson leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game and shoots 44.1% from the field. Jeray Kay averages 11 points per game while Jared Giammona scores 8.5 per game and shoots 40.3% from beyond the arc.

Griffins TV
Griffins TV will broadcast Saturday's game live Mike Lageschulte will handle the play-by-play duties with Lance Barton providing color commentary. The broadcast begins about 15 minutes prior to tipoff with the pregame show. Head coach Tommy Connor joins the guys in the postgame.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for the game on Saturday. Fans can access the Live Stats at WestminsterGriffins.com with the feed going live about 10 minutes prior to tipoff.

All-American Numbers
Senior guard Michael Stockton is a serious All-American candidate this season. Stockton ranks in the top 20 in the Frontier Conference in eight statistical categories. He is third in scoring at 18.9 points per game and tops in field goal percentage at 56.7%. He also ranks second in free thro percentage, second in assists, second in assist/turnover ratio, and fourth in steals. Stockton is also in the NAIA Top 50 in six of those categories including 13th in field goal percentage and 14th in assists.

Quest for Four
Westminster is looking for a fourth consecutive Frontier Conference championship in 2011. The Griffins have won seven conference titles since the program was reinstated in 1999. They enter this week tied for fourth with a 2-2 record and sit one game behind LCSC. The current three straight titles matches a three year streak from 2003-06.

Fast Start
Westminster started the season 11-0 before dropping a game at Azusa Pacific. The 11 wins to start the year is the most wins to start a season in school history. The team opened with 10 consecutive wins to start the 2008-09 season to set the previous record. That team started the year 19-1 for the best record with only one loss in school history.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is rated 14th in the Massey Ratings that were released on January 16. They are the top rated Frontier Conference team with a rating of 0.881. The Frontier Conference is the second rated conference behind only the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Griffins loss to Montana Tech is rated as the biggest upset of the 2010-11 season according to the ratings.

NAIA Coaches' Poll
Westminster received 89 points in the January 17 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll to rank 22nd. The Griffins have now been ranked in 29 consecutive polls dating back to the 2008-09 season. The last tie Westminster wasn't ranked in the NAIA Top 25 was March 5, 2008. During the 29 week stretch, Westminster has been inside the top 10 a total of 19 times with this week's 22nd being the lowest they have been.

Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 66-7 at home. The .904 winning percentage is tops in the Frontier Conference during that time. The Griffins are 7-1 at home this season. Westminster is 33-4 (.892) 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.

Looking Ahead
The Griffins welcome Great Falls and Montana State-Northern to the Behnken Field House for games next week. UGF is in Salt Lake City for a 7:30 p.m. game on January 27. Northern makes the trip for a 7:30 p.m. game on January 29.