Box Score SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's basketball team avoided its first 0-3 start in conference play since the program was reinstated in 1999 by defeating Carroll 75-54 on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House.

Westminster snapped a three-game losing streak with the win and improves to 13-6 on the year and 1-2 in conference play.  Carroll drops to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in league.

The Griffins ran out to a 20-11 lead over the first 11 minutes of the game.  They would eventually build the lead to 14 with 3:50 to play in the first half before Carroll finished the stanza with a 10-4 run to head to intermission with the Griffins leading 39-31.  Westminster started the second half with a 20-5 run and led 59-36 with 12:29 remaining in the ball game.  Carroll would never get within 17 the rest of the night as the Griffins picked up the win.

“We talked all week about getting back to playing championship defense,” head coach Adam Hiatt said after the game. “We struggled defensively last week and it resulted in two losses.”

After struggling to shoot the ball last week on the road, Westminster took advantage of the home court by shooting 50.9% from the floor on Thursday.  They finished with eight makes from beyond the arc, the second most the team has made in a game all season.  The Griffins finished the game with 15 assists on 28 field goals and only 11 turnovers.

On the defensive end, Westminster held Carroll to 38% shooting and just 5-of-17 (29.4%) from beyond the arc.  Carroll committed 21 turnovers which resulted in 24 points for the Griffins.  Westminster also had seven steals and five blocked shots.  They scored 40 points in the paint and scored 13 points from eight offensive rebounds.

Jake Orchard shouldered much of the scoring load in the game.  The Frontier's second leading scorer finished with 20poits on a 7-of-11 shooting night.  He also grabbed three rebounds with three assists and two steals.  Alex Drecksel added 10 points off the bench while also grabbing four rebounds.  Ben Walker scored nine points and blocked a season-high four shots.

Ben Cutler led Carroll with 15 points with Andy Garland chipping in 12.  Cutler scored 13 of his points in the first half as Carroll finished with just 23 points after halftime.

Westminster will conclude this quick two-game home stand on Saturday when they welcome Rocky Mountain College into the Behnken Field House.  Tipoff for that game is slated for 7:30 p.m.