BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY – The 22nd-ranked Westminster men's basketball team picked up a tough 82-70 win over 24th-ranked Lewis-Clark State on Saturday night in the Behnken Field House.

Westminster climbs to 15-4 overall and 3-2 in the Frontier Conference while Lewis-Clark State slips to 13-5 and 3-2.

“I thought we played great,” head coach Tommy Connor said. “We started the game getting layups and that made it easier for us.”

Westminster seemed to be in control of the game for much of the night. They led 14-2 just six minutes into the game and would eventually lead 35-15 shortly before halftime. The Griffins would eventually lead by 21 at the 9:51mark of the second half before the visiting Warriors stormed back. LCSC went on a 20-6 run and would trail 68-61 with 3:29 remaining. Westminster would hold the Warriors at bay by going 8-of-9 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the win.

“We had to manage chaos there for a bit,” Connor said of the last LCSC rally. “We really closed out the last three minutes with good basketball.”

It was a stellar shooting night for the Griffins. Westminster shot 56.9% from the floor in the game and was even better at 64% in the first 20 minutes. They scored 44 points in the paint and four of the five starters reached double figures. Defensively, Westminster limited LCSC to just 39.4% shooting and forced them into 11 turnovers which resulted in 16 points.

Westminster, the nation's fourth-best free throw shooting team, would connect on 21-of-26 trips to the line while LCSC was just 11-of-20. The Griffins also limited LCSC to just 10 second chance points despite giving up 15 offensive rebounds.

AJ Reilly led Westminster with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also had six rebounds and six assists while making 10 of his 11 attempts at the charity stripe. Jake Orchard added 19 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Michael Stockton and Tanner Gregory scored 14 and 13 points respectively. Jordan Bjornberg grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

David Johnson led all scores with 34 points for LCSC, including 30 after intermission. He scored the last 25 points for the Warriors over the final 7:35 of the contest.

Next up for Westminster is a home contest with Great Falls on Thursday, January 27. The Frontier Conference action in the Behnken Field House is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.