BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team won its seventh consecutive Frontier Conference Tournament game by defeating Lewis-Clark State 82-70 in the quarterfinals of the 2011 event on Wednesday.

The fourth-seeded Griffins improve to 21-8 on the year while No. 5 seed LCSC drops to 16-12. Westminster moves on to face top-seeded Carroll on Saturday night in Helena, Mont. The semi-final game will begin at 7 p.m. in the Carroll PE Center.

“I am proud of our guys,” head coach Tommy Connor said. “I thought this was a great game and both teams played well.”

The first half of tonight's game was played fairly event throughout. In the first 20 minutes, the game saw seven ties, four lead changes, and the largest lead of the half was a 30-23 Westminster advantage with 4:14 to play. LC State outscored Westminster 11-6 to close the half with the Griffins holding a 35-34 advantage.

Two Donnie Lao free throws at the 17:27 mark of the second half would put LC State ahead 41-39. Tanner Gregory would score a baseline jumper on the next Westminster possession for the game's 10th and final tie. AJ Reilly would connect on a three at the 16:22 mark to put the Griffins ahead for good at 44-41. The game would stay close and with 7:30 remaining it was a 57-55 game.

That would be when Westminster made its final push. The Griffins would go on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes. Michael Stockton and Jordan Bjornberg would make two free throws apiece. Stockton would then get a layup and Jake Orchard got one of his own with an Alex King bucket for LCSC sandwiched between. The run was capped with an AJ Reilly 3-point play in transition. Westminster made 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“I felt we dug in during the second half,” Connor stated if the Griffins second half performance. “We forced some turnovers to get a lead and then we made free throws.”

Westminster shot the ball well all game. The Frontier's leading field goal percentage team finished the game at 54.9% from the field after going 14-of-22 (63.6%) in the first half. The Griffins posted 16 assists on 28 field goals while only committing 14 turnovers. The team went for 44 points ion the paint and shot 23-of-27 (85.2%) at the foul line.

The Griffins were solid defensively in holding LC State to 44.1% shooting. The Warriors committed 15 turnovers which resulted in 18 Westminster points, including eight on the fast break. After allowing the visitors to grab 12 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, Westminster held LC State to zero in the second half.

Stockton attacked the hoop all night and finished the game with 29 points. He was one off his career high while adding four assists and five steals. The senior guard from Spokane, Wash. shot 9-of-18 from the field with two treys and 9-of-10 at the charity stripe. Tanner Gregory added 14 points and five rebounds while Jake Orchard had 13 points. Bjornberg had 10 points and Reilly added nine.

David Johnson led LC State with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. King added 15 points and five boards. The Warriors got 21 points from the bench and made six from beyond the arc.