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Tanner Gregory
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Men's Basketball

Griffins Head to Lewiston to Start Road Trip

Tanner Gregory
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SALT LAKE CITY – The 22nd-ranked Westminster men's basketball team begins a season-ending three-game road trip with a Saturday, February 19 game at Lewis-Clark State College. A win by Westminster on Saturday would clinch a first round home game at next month's conference tournament.

Westminster begins the week with a 19-6 overall record and one-half game behind Montana State-Northern for first place in the Frontier Conference with a 7-4 record. The Griffins are one win shy of a 20-win season for the ninth straight year and 10th time under head coach Tommy Connor.

The Griffins enter Saturday's game second in the conference in scoring at 76.7 points per game while shooting a Frontier-best 49.8% field goal percentage. They also shoot 75.4% from the foul line and 34.6% from 3-point territory. Defensively, Westminster allows 66.7 points per game and holds the opposition to a 49.8% field goal percentage.

About the Warriors
Lewis-Clark State enters Saturday's game with a 15-9 overall record and 5-6 in the Frontier Conference. They defeated Rocky Mountain College 62-55 last Saturday to snap a five-game losing streak. David Johnson leads the team in scoring 13 points per game while shooting 45% from the field. Donte Roberts grabs 5.71 rebounds per game and ranks 17th in the NAIA by averaging 1.6 blocks per night.

Victory Sports Network
Saturday's game will be broadcast on the Victory Sports Network as the VSN Game of the Week. VSN broadcast select games every week and is the exclusive network for national NAIA broadcasts. VSN will feature both the women's and men's Griffins/Warriors games on Saturday. The games will be available at www.livestream.com/victorysports.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for the game on Saturday. The stat feed is available through the DakStats Web Cast site at www.dakstats.com/naia or by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com.

Conference Tournament
The 2011 Frontier Conference Tournament will be held on March 2-8 with the highest seeds hosting home games. The quarterfinal round is slated for Wednesday, March 2 with the top four seeds playing at home. The two highest remaining seeds will host a semi-final game on Saturday, March 5. The highest remaining seed will host the championship game on Tuesday, March 8. All games will begin at 7 p.m.

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 17.9 points per game and second in field goal percentage at 55.4%. He also ranks second in assists, first in assist/turnover ratio, fourth in free throw percentage, and fourth in steals. Stockton is also in the NAIA Top 50 in six of those categories including 29th in scoring and 24th 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 one-half game behind Montana State-Northern for the top spot in the conference. Should they win out, Westminster will clinch at least a share of the regular season title.

Shooting the Lights Out
Westminster is rated in the Frontier Conference's top four in all three shooting percentage categories. The Griffins lead the conference in field goal percentage by shooting 49.8% from the field. They are also tops in the conference at the foul line at 75.4% and fourth in 3-point shooting at 34.6%. They rank fifth nationally infield goal percentage and second in free throw percentage. The Griffins have a True Shooting Percentage of 60.5%. True shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is rated 17th in the latest Massey Ratings that were released on February 16. The Griffins have a rating of 0.802 and are the top rated team in the Frontier Conference. According to the ratings, Westminster has played at 20th-toughest schedule and the Frontier Conference is the second-best conference.

NAIA Coaches' Poll
After falling out of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll last week for the first time in 31 polls, Westminster returned to the poll this week tied for 22nd. Westminster is tied with St. Catharine College (Ky.) in Monday's poll. They received 88 points in the poll and join MSU-Northern at No. 16 as the only Frontier Conference teams in the top 25..

Home Cooking
Since the Behnken Field House opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 71-7 at home. The .910 winning percentage is tops in the Frontier Conference during that time. The Griffins are 12-1 at home this season. Westminster is 38-4 (.905) 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.

Looking Ahead
Westminster will conclude the 2011 regular season with two games in Montana. The Griffins face Montana State-Northern on February 25 and Great Falls on February 26.
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