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SALT LAKE CITY – The 10th-ranked Westminster College men's basketball team is playing host to the Westminster Holiday Classic on Dec. 16 and 17 in the Behnken Field House.  Westminster is welcoming No. 15 Biola University, Rocky Mountain College and NCAA DII Minot State to town for the event.

Westminster will play Minot State on Friday in the game following Rocky versus Biola.  Saturday's action begins with Rocky facing Minot State and concludes with the Griffins playing Biola.  The action begins at 5 p.m. both days with the Westminster games tipping at approximately 7 p.m.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster heads into the Holiday Classic at 10-2 on the season and riding a three-game winning streak.  They haven't played since a Dec. 1 win over NCAA DI Northern Colorado on the road.  The Griffins are a perfect 4-0 at home this year and have gone 1-2 against ranked opponents.

The team is averaging 77.6 points per game to rank fifth in the Frontier and 44th nationally.  Westminster has been one of the top shooting teams in the NAIA all season and currently sit eighth nationally at 51.5% from the field.  They also rank second in free throw percentage at 76.9% and they lead the Frontier on both categories.

Westminster opponents are scoring 66.7 points per night which ranks the Griffins 32nd in the NAIA in scoring defense.  Westminster grabs 32.1 rebounds per outing and average 8.6 steals per game.  They also record six assists per contest and are 14th in the nation with their 1.15 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Jake Orchard is the team's top scorer at 16.7 points per game.  He is second in the Frontier in scoring and 23rd nationally with 200 total points.  Orchard also leads the Frontier with a 60.2% field goal percentage.  Ben Walker is scoring 12.8 points per game to rank seventh in the league while also leading the team in rebounding at 4.9 per night.

Jordan Hayter is the top assist man on the team with 36 with Chris Cassity right behind with 33.  Walker leads the squad with 15 blocks and is third in the Frontier at 1.25 per game.  Orchard and AJ Reilly have recorded 17 steals apiece to lead the team.

Holiday Classic Coverage
Complete Classic coverage can be found on the Holiday Classic web site at WestminsterGriffins.com/holiday.  You will find links to the web site of every team in the event, along with links to Live Stats.  All of the tournament stats and box scores will also be available at the conclusion of each game.

All four games of the Holiday Classic will be streamed live on Griffins TV.  The two games featuring Rocky will be video only.  Mike Lageschulte will handle the play-by-play with Lance Barton providing the color commentary.  The broadcast goes live about 10 minutes prior to tipoff with head coach Adam Hiatt appearing during the postgame show.  Griffins TV can be found online at WestminsterGriffins.com/GriffinsTV.

Series Notes
Friday's meeting with Minot State will be the first meeting all-time between the two teams.  Minot will mark the eighth first-time opponent for the Griffin this season.  Westminster is a perfect 7-0 in those earlier situations this season.

The game against Biola on Saturday will mark the fourth meeting in the history of the series.  Biola leads the series 2-1 with Westminster taking the last decision 68-63 in overtime in 2009.  Biola won the first meeting 74-53 on Mar. 15, 2001 and then took a 96-69 win on Nov. 16, 2001.  The first meeting and the most recent meeting both happened at the NAIA National Championships.

Looking Back
Westminster is coming off one of the biggest wins in school history with a 73-60 win over NCAA Division I Northern Colorado on Dec. 1.  They defeated a NCAA DI team for the first time since 2004 when they won at Idaho State, 66-55.

It was a huge night for junior Orchard as he finished the game with 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting.  He was a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc while also making all four of his free throws.  Orchard also added three assists, two rebounds, one block and one steal.

Climbing the Charts
After starting the year among the other teams receiving votes, Westminster has now been ranks in the Top 25 in two consecutive polls.  The Griffins moved to No. 10 in the poll that was released on Monday, one spot ahead of the No. 11 they entered at on Dec. 5.

Westminster has now been ranked in the Top 25 of the coaches' poll 86 times since the program was reinstated in 1999.  When playing as a ranked team, Westminster has compiled a 156-64 record.

Massey Ratings
Westminster has climbed to No. 2 in the latest Massey Ratings that includes games through Dec. 10.  The Griffins have a rating of 1.260 and trail only Concordia (Calif.) in the ratings.  The Frontier Conference is rated as the No. 3 conference in the NAIA.  The ratings list Westminster as having played the sixth-toughest schedule while being the No. 1-rated defense. 

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.

Shooting the Lights Out
The 2010-11 Griffins are once again one of the top shooting teams in the NAIA.  Through 10 games, Westminster is shooting 51.5% from the field which leads the Frontier Conference and ranks eighth in the NAIA.  They have shot above 50% from the floor in eight games, including four of the previous six contests.

Westminster has a True Shooting Percentage of 61.1% this season.  They also have an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 56.5%.  Those percentages take into account free throws and 3-point field goal percentage.

Offensive Orchard
Orchard is the Griffins top scorer this season at 16.7 points per game.  The junior is second in the Frontier with that average while also ranking first in the league with a 60.2% field gal percentage.  Orchard has reached double figures in 11 of the 12 games and three times gone for at least 24.

He was named the Frontier Player of the Week on Dec. 5 after scoring 28 points in the win at Northern Colorado.  Orchard finished the game 9-of-10 from the field and 6-of-6 from beyond the arc.  He also had two rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.  The weekly award was the second of his career.

Welcome Back Walker
Senior Walker returns this season after taking a redshirt last season with an injury.  He is currently second in the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game while also grabbing a team-best 59 rebounds.  Walker is shooting 54.1% from the floor and is shooting 60.4% over the last six outings.  The senior forward is third in the Frontier at 1.25 blocks per game and 32nd in the NAIA with 15 total blocks.

With the Game on the Line
The Griffins are the nation's top team when it comes to shooting free throws.  Westminster is shooting 76.9% at the stripe this season and has shot 75% or better on eight occasions.  They rank first in the conference in free throw shooting and second in the NAIA.  Orchard makes 86.6% of his trips to the line to rank second in the league and 18th nationally.  Reilly is third in the Frontier and 20th in the NAIA at 84.5% at the stripe.

Westminster is even better in clutch situations.  A clutch situation is defined as any free throw with less than 5:00 remaining in the game (plus all of overtime) and a positive or negative differential of 10 points or less.  The Griffins are shooting 81.1% in those situations, making 30-of-37 clutch attempts.  Orchard is a perfect 13-for-13 in clutch situations while Reilly has gone 6-for-6.

Home Advantage
The Griffins have been excellent at home since 1999.  During that time, Westminster has compiled a 134-21 (.865) record in home games and have recorded at least 10 home wins in a season 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 71-7 (.910) 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” while twice going undefeated at home in league action.

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.