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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's basketball team opens the 2011-12 season with two games in Canada this weekend.  Westminster plays back-to-back games with the University of Victoria on Friday and Saturday.  Both games will be played in McKinnon Gymnasium of the campus of the University of Victoria with both games starting at 8 p.m.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins a new era of men's basketball under first-year head coach Adam Hiatt.  Hiatt was promoted from assistant coach to head coach on April 8 after Tommy Connor resigned after 12 years.  Hiatt takes over a team that went 21-9 last season and advanced to the semi-finals of the Frontier Conference Tournament.

The Griffins return 11 players from last year's club including four starters.  Westminster was 8-8 away from home last season and has lost three straight road games.  The team averaged 76.4 points per game in 2010-11 and led the NAIA by shooting 76% at the foul line.  The opposition scored 67.6 points per contest last year and shot 44.5% from the field.

Jake Orchard is the top returning scorer this season.  Orchard finished second on the team last season with an average of 16.6 points per game and led the Frontier Conference by shooting 55.5% from the field.  Tanner Gregory averaged 10.9 points per game last season and led all Griffins with 158 rebounds.

Game Coverage
Both games will be streamed live online by the University of Victoria. The link to watch the games can be found under the calendar at WestminsterGriffins.com or at canadawest.tv.  Live Stats will also be available with links found in the same place.

Against Victoria
These two games will mark the first meetings all-time between the Griffins and Vikes.  This will be the third time the Griffins have faced a team from Canada with a 1-1 record in those previous two meetings.  Westminster defeated Southern Alberta Tech 74-54 in 2001 and dropped a 59-48 decision to Barber Scotia in 2003.

Looking Back
The Westminster men's basketball team finished the 2010-11 season with a 21-9 overall record and was fourth in the Frontier Conference at 8-6. It was the ninth consecutive 20-win season for the Griffins and the10th since the program was reinstated in 1999.

The Griffins set a school record by starting the year with 11 consecutive wins. They climbed as high as No. 6 in the NAIA national polls and would eventually finish the non-conference schedule with a 12-2 overall mark. They finished two games behind the conference lead and were defeated with half court buzzer-beaters twice during the season.

Season Openers
Westminster is 11-1 all-time in season openers and has won nine straight games to start a season.  This will be the first time since the 2008-09 season that the team has started the year away from home.  The last time the Griffin played a true road game in a season opener was a 92-73 loss at Weber State on Nov. 3, 2001.

Westminster is 6-5 all-time in road openers and is riding a four-game winning streak in road openers.  They last lost the road opener at Concordia (Calif.) on Nov. 10, 2006.  Last year, Westminster defeated College of Idaho 74-65 in the first road game of the year.

Fast Starters
Since 2005 Westminster has started the year strong during the opening five games of the year.  The Griffins are 23-7 during the first five games of the season over the past six years and only once had a losing record during the span.  They have twice gone 5-0 to start the year with those coming on 2008 and 2010. Last season, Westminster set a school record by starting the year with 11 consecutive victories.

Westminster has a .686 winning percentage all-time in the months of October and November.  They have gone 28-6 in the opening months since 2007 and were a perfect 8-0 last season.  The Griffins have won at least four straight during the fall months on six occasions in 12 years.

Chasing 20
Westminster begins the year looking for a 10th straight 20-win season.  Since the program was reinstated in 1999, Westminster has recorded 20 wins a total of 10 times in 12 years.  They are the only Frontier Conference team to record 20 wins in each of the last six seasons. 

Westminster set a school record with 30 wins during the 2008-09 season and they have averaged 26 wins per year during the current eight-year streak.  The Griffins have an all-time record of 264-114 since reinstatement and only had a losing season (12-15) during the initial campaign of 1999-2000.

Shooting the Lights Out
The 2010-11 Griffins were one of the best shooting teams in the NAIA.  Westminster led the NAIA in free throw percentage by making 76% of their attempts at the charity stripe.  They also ranked third in the nation with a 49.7% field goal percentage.  The Griffins made 35.3% from beyond the arc which was 32nd nationally.

Westminster had a True Shooting Percentage of 60.6% last season. They also had a 55.5% Effective Field Goal Percentage. True shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws. This statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.

Welcome Back Walker
Senior Ben Walker returns this season after taking a redshirt last season with an injury.  Walker was named first team all-Frontier Conference and honorable mention All-American in 2010 for the Griffins. During that season, Walker led the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game while grabbing a team-high 195 rebounds.  His 49 blocked shots set a school single season and career record.

Offensive Orchard
Junior Orchard returns after averaging 16.6 points per game during his first year with the Griffins.  Orchard was second on the team in scoring and was also second in rebounding at 4.9 boards per night.  He led the Frontier Conference and was 12th in the NAIA with a 55.5% field goal percentage while also shooting 83.1% at the foul line.

Orchard scored in double figures 28 times as a sophomore and has reached at least 10 points in 19 straight games.  He had seven games in which he scored at least 20 points and had a career high 35 points against Great Falls on Jan. 27.  Orchard grabbed at least one offensive rebounds in 29-of-30 games played and has 19 straight games with an offensive rebound.

Griffins Picked to Finish Fourth in Frontier
According to a poll of the Frontier Conference men's basketball coaches, the Westminster College men's basketball team is picked to finish fourth in the upcoming season.  That would mark the same finish the team had last year.

The Griffins received 33 points in the poll along with one first-place vote.  Last year's conference tournament champion Montana State-Northern was picked to win the 2011-2012 league title.  Regular season champion Carroll College was second followed by Montana Western.  After Westminster the order was Lewis-Clark State, Rocky Mountain College. Montana Tech and the University of Great Falls tied for seventh. MSU-Northern received five first place votes and Carroll received two.

Orchard and Walker Named Preseason All-Conference
Westminster College had two representatives on the Preseason All-Frontier Conference team that was released earlier this month.  Commissioner Kent Paulson announced that Orchard and Walker both made the five-player team

Orchard was named first team all-conference last season along with being named the newcomer of the year.  He as also named an honorable mention All-American after averaging 16.6 points per game and was 12th nationally with his 55.5% field goal percentage. Orchard could be found third in the Frontier in steals, fourth in scoring, eighth in offensive rebounds and 16th in total rebounds.

Walker sat out last season as a redshirt due to an injury.  In 2009-10, Walker was named honorable mention All-American and first team all-conference with the Griffins.  He averaged 15.4 points per game that season and was second in the NAIA with a 67.7% field goal percentage.  During the season, Walker recorded a school-record 49 blocked shots and ranked 16th nationally.

Home Advantage
The Griffins have been dominate at home since 1999.  During that time, Westminster has compiled a 130-21 (.861) record in home games and have recorded at least 10 home wins nine times.  They have also posted a 73-10 (.880) mark in Frontier Conference home games.

Westminster has been even better at home since opening the Behnken Field House in 2006.  The Griffins have an all-time record of 67-7 (.905) in their current home and only once have they lost more than one home game in a season.  In conference, the Griffins have a 38-4 (.905) all-time record in “The Nest” and twice gone undefeated during league home games.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is rated No. 14 in the preseason Massey Ratings.  The Griffins have a rating of 0.753 and rate as having the 29th-best home advantage.  They sit first among the eight teams from the Frontier Conference with MSU-Northern rated second and Carroll in third.

The Massey Ratings are compiled each week with new ranking being released on Sundays.  Kenneth Massey is the creator of the rating formula and all ratings can be found on his web site at www.masseyratings.com.

Watch the Griffins Online
Westminster is pleased to announce that every Griffin home basketball game will be available to watch live on Griffins TV.  Westminster, along with the Victory Sports Network, has created a channel on Livestream to become the new online streaming home of the Westminster Griffins.  Fans can access the channel at WestminsterGriffins.com or at Livestream.com/griffins. 

Looking Ahead
Westminster will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 1 when they travel to St. George, Utah for a game with in-state rival Dixie State.  The Griffins will then be home for the Westminster Tipoff Classic on Nov. 4 and 5 against Northern New Mexico and St. Xavier (Ill.).