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SALT LAKE CITY – The 13th-ranked Westminster College men's basketball team opens Frontier Conference play on Saturday when they host Montana Western in the Behnken Field House. The action in the first December conference game since 2001 begins at 5:30 p.m.
The game is part of the “Together We Can” promotion and fans can bring 2 cans of food to receive 2-for-1 admission to the game. All food collected will be donated to the Utah Food Bank.
Game Coverage
Saturday's game will be carried live on Griffins TV and on Comcast 6 in Utah. Mike Lageschulte and Lance Barton will be on the call and fans can interact with the guys on Twitter @griffins_tv. Live Stats will also be available for the game with links for Griffins TV and Live Stats in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Griffin Notebook
Westminster enters the weekend at 8-1 overall this season and riding a four-game winning streak. The went 2-0 at the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic last weekend, beating No. 20 Cal State San Marcos, 85-61, and Chadron State, 94-69. The Griffins are 4-0 at home this season and are averaging 89.2 points per game at home while holding the opposition to just 61.5 on average.
For the season Westminster is scoring 82.7 points per game and rank 20th in the NAIA is scoring average. They are 15th nationally in shooting at 48.6 percent and place 11th from beyond the arc at 39.7 percent. The Griffins shoot 70.2 percent at the foul line and average 15.3 assist per game.
On the defensive end, Westminster is also getting it done. Westminster opponents are scoring 61.22 points per game and shooting 41.1 percent from the field. They rank 13th in scoring defense and 33rd in field goal percentage defense. The Griffins are forcing 21.3 turnovers per game and are third in the NAIA with an 8.11 turnover margin. They rank ninth in the country in scoring margin at 21.44 and 11th in steals at 11 per outing.
Against the Opposition
The Griffins hold a 23-7 edge in the all-time series against Montana Western. UMW has won three of the last four meetings, including a 70-68 win over the Griffins in the semi-finals of last season's Frontier Conference Tournament. Five of the wins by Western in the series have come since the 2008-09 season.
Orchard's the Pick
Jake Orchard is once again having a balanced season for the Griffins. The Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the year is averaging a team-high 12.4 points while grabbing 3.9 rebounds per game. He also is second on the team with 22 assists and 16 steals. Orchard has scored in double figures seven times this season with a season-best 19 coming against Western State (Colo.).
Join the Club
With 18 points against Vanguard (Calif.) on Nov. 9, Orchard became the ninth Griffin to score 1,000 points for a career. The senior has 1,052 career points entering the weekend and he needs 24 points to surpass Danny Stosich for eighth. At his current career scoring average, Orchard would finish with 1,377 points and rank third in school history.
Shoot the Moon
Colton Moon continues to orchestrate the Griffin offense to success. Moon leads the team with 28 assists and averaging 9.7 points per game. The sophomore is shooting 54.5 percent from beyond the arc and ranks sixth in the NAIA in that department. Moon has reached double figures in three games, including back-to-back 18-point performances against Fort Lewis (Colo.) and Western State.
Robertson Making an Impact
Tallon Robertson has made a significant impact of the Griffins front line this season. The junior is averaging 11.6 points per game while shooting 59.2 percent from the floor. Robertson has led the team in scoring in three games and has reached double figures six times. He had his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win over College of Idaho on Nov. 17.
Microwave Version 22
Blake Skidmore has provided the Griffins with instant offense off the bench this season. The junior is averaging 11.6 points per game in 21.9 minutes per night off the bench. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and ranks 19th in the NAIA with his free throw percentage of 85.7. Skidmore has been in double figures six times five times in the last six games. He has also grabs 3.2 rebounds per game and has 15 assists and 15 steals.
Starting Fast
Historically the Griffins have been excellent in the first few weeks of the season. Since the program was reinstated in 1999, Westminster is 89-36 (.712) in all games played before Dec. 1. In the past three seasons, Westminster is 25-3 (.893) in November games. The Griffins are 38-7 (.844) in the first month of games dating back to the 2008-09 season.
Creating Scoring Opportunities
The Griffins have been lethal at taking the ball away from the opposition and then turning those chances into points. Westminster forces 21.3 turnovers per game and is scoring 24.1 points per game off of turnovers. Those points from turnovers result in 29.1 percent of all Griffin points this season. In comparison, Westminster commits just 13.4 turnovers per game and allows just 9.9 points from them. That is only 16.2 percent of the opposition's total.
Looking Ahead
Next week Westminster will host the first-ever Alumni Game on Saturday, Dec. 8. More details about the game will be released next week. The Griffins return to action on Dec. 18 when they face UC-Merced in Merced, Calif.
