BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY – The 23rd-ranked Westminster men's basketball team defeated Great Falls 74-58 on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House. The win is a third straight for the Griffins and it's the 26th straight victory over Great Falls.

The win improves the Griffins to 16-4 on the year and 4-2 in the Frontier Conference. UGF slips to 8-13 and 1-5.

“Luckily Orchard made some shots against the zone in the second half,” head coach Tommy Connor said. “We did a good job guarding and then they just made some tough shots late.”

Great Falls scored the first five points of the contest and actually held the lead until a Jake Orchard layup put the Griffins ahead at the 8:10 mark of the first half. UGF would regain the lead at 19-18 with 5:29 remaining in the half before Westminster finished the half on a 17-4 run capped by an Adam Rainbird three at the horn.

Westminster would push the advantage to 21 with 11:10 remaining in the ballgame on two free throws by Tanner Gregory. Great Falls would continue to attack and eventually get within 12 at 68-56 with 3:09 remaining. Westminster would then get three layups down the stretch to earn the victory.

Westminster shot the ball well all night finishing 55.1% from the field. They were even better in the second half going 14-of-24 (58.3%). The Griffins had 40 points in the paint and turned six offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points. On the defensive end, Westminster forced UGF into 16 turnovers which resulted in 21 points for the Griffins.

Orchard had the best scoring night any Griffin has had since 2007. He finished with a career high 35 points on 12-of-14 shooting. The 35 points in the most by a Griffin player in a game this season and the sixth highest total in school history. It also is the most scored in a game since Danny Stosich set the school record with 42 points in November, 2007.

“He was awfully good,” Connor said of Orchard. “It's pretty impressive to do that on 12-of-14 shooting.”

AJ Reilly added nine points while Gregory scored eight points with six rebounds. Michael Stockton scored seven points with six assists. Jordan Bjornberg had seven rebounds.

Great Falls was led by 12 points from Marcel Towns. Mark Celaya added 10 points while Melvin William recorded seven points and eight assists.

Westminster returns to action on Saturday when they welcome No. 19 Montana State-Northern to the Behnken Field House. The first place battle is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.