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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's basketball team concludes the regular season with two home games over the weekend.  Westminster begins the week on Thursday with a big game against No. 22 Montana State-Northern. They conclude the regular season on Saturday against Great Falls on Senior Night. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster heads into the weekend at 19-9 overall and 7-5 in the Frontier Conference. They currently sit in third place in the standings and could finish anywhere from second to sixth overall after the weekend's games. The Griffins are 9-2 at home this season

The Griffins rank fourth in the Frontier in scoring at 73.1 points per game.  They have scored 2,048 points this year which is second-most in the league and 40th in the NAIA.  They lead the Frontier in field goal percentage (51%) and free throw percentage (74.9%).

Defensively, Westminster holds the opposition to 66.6 points per outing while holding them to 44.3% shooting from the floor.  The Griffins grab 31.3 rebounds per game while also blocking three shots per contest.  They average 7.7 steals with a positive 1.93 turnover margin.  The team averages 14.9 assists per game with a 1.17 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Jake Orchard is third in the league in scoring at 15.8 points per game and is 46th in the NAIA with 427 total points.  He leads the Frontier by shooting 54.1% from the field and is second by shooting 82.8% at the charity stripe.  Ben Walker ranks 13th in the conference by scoring 11.5 points per game and is first with 45 total blocks.

Walker grabs 5.3 rebounds per game to lead the team and ranks 11th in the Frontier.  Alex Drecksel ranks 10th in the conference by grabbing 1.8 offensive rebounds per game.  Chris Cassity averages a team-best 2.89 assists per outing while Orchard records 1.41 steals per contest. 

Game Coverage
Both games will be carried live on Griffins TV.  The pregame coverage begins at 7:20 p.m. with Mike Lageschulte handling the play-by-play and Lance Barton providing the color commentary.  Head coach Adam Hiatt previews the game during halftime of the women's game and then recaps the game in the postgame show. Live Stats will also be available for the two games.  Links for Griffins TV and the Live Stats are available at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Playoff Preview
The Frontier Conference Tournament will begin with quarterfinal games on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at the home site of the top four seeds. The Griffins are currently slated to host a game that night, but everything can change after this weekend.  All tournament games will begin at 7 p.m.

The men's semi-final games will be played on Friday, Mar. 2 with the championship game slated for Monday, Mar. 5.  For complete postseason information be sure to visit WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Shooting the Lights Out
The 2011-12 Griffins are once again one of the top shooting teams in the NAIA.  Westminster is shooting 51% from the field which leads the Frontier Conference and ranks second in the NAIA.  They have shot above 50% from the floor in 15 games and nine times been above 55%. The Griffins also shoot 74.9% at the foul line to lead both the Frontier and all of the NAIA.

Looking deeper into the shooting numbers, the Griffins have a True Shooting Percentage of 59.3% and an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 55.7%.  Both of those percentages factor in free throws and 3-point shooting.

Specialty Numbers
Westminster is averaging 73.1 points per game and is scoring 36.5 of those points in the paint.  The Griffins have 1,022 points in the key area this season and have limited the opposition to just 754 points down low.  They are also averaging 17.9 points per contest off of turnovers by the opposition.  Westminster opponents are averaging 14.6 turnovers per game.

Massey Ratings
Westminster currently sits at No. 26 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings.  They jumped two positions from last week and have a rating of 0.67.  They are rated third among the eight teams in the Frontier Conference and have played the 28th-rated schedule and 20th-rated defense.

The Massey Ratings are compiled each week with new ranking being released daily.  Kenneth Massey is the creator of the rating formula and all ratings can be found on his web site at www.masseyratings.com.

Offensive Orchard
Orchard is the Griffins top scorer this season at 15.8 points per game.  The junior is third in the Frontier with that average while also leading the league with a 54.1% field goal percentage.  Orchard has reached double figures in 24 of the 27 games he has played and six times gone for at least 20.  He has been the teams leading scorer in 14 games while also collecting the most steals in a game on 11 occasions.

He has been named the Frontier Conference player of the week twice during this season.  He first claimed the honor on Dec. 5 and then won the award again on Jan. 16. Orchard averaged 22.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.5 steals when he won on Jan. 16. He hit 57 percent of his field goals (16 of 28), 73 percent of his 3-point field goals (8 of 11) and 83 percent of his free throws (5 of 6).

1,000 Within Reach
Orchard has scored 925 points in his Westminster career and ranks 12th in school history in that department.  Through the first 57 games of his career, the junior is averaging 16.2 points per game.  He needs 47 more points to move into the top-10 in the record books.  He is on pace to finish the year with 972 career points which would place him 10th at Westminster.

To reach the 1,000-point plateau this season, Orchard would need to average 25 points per game over the remaining four guaranteed games on the schedule.  Should the Griffins advance to the finals of the Frontier Conference Tournament that average drops to 15 points per game.

Welcome Back Walker
Walker returns this season after taking a redshirt last season with an injury.  He is currently second on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game while also grabbing a team-best 147 rebounds.  The senior forward leads the Frontier at 1.61 blocks per game and 16th in the NAIA with 45 total blocks.

Spark off the Bench
Reilly has been a spark for the Griffins since the switch was made to bring the senior off the bench.  Reilly started the first 18 games of the season and averaged 7.8 points per game with 28 assists. He moved to the bench in the game against Carroll on Jan. 12. During his 10 games coming off the bench, Reilly is averaging 9.1 points per game while also picking up 24 assists. The Griffins have gone 7-3 since making the switch.

With the Game on the Line
The Griffins are one of the nation's top team when it comes to shooting free throws.  Westminster is shooting 75.2% at the stripe this season and has shot 75% or better on 15 occasions.  They rank first in the conference in free throw shooting and second in the NAIA.  Orchard makes 82.8% of his trips to the line to rank second in the league and 18th nationally.

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 80% in those situations, making 72-of-90 clutch attempts.  Orchard has gone 32-for-34 (94.1%) in clutch situations while AJ Reilly is 13-of-16 (81.3%).

Hustling Hayter
Hayter has started all 28 games this season for the Griffins.  He is third on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game.  Hayter has reached double figures in scoring on 15 occasions, including each of the last five, and has three times been the team's top scorer in a game.  He has recorded 76 assists and is eighth in the Frontier with an average of 2.71 per game. He is also second on the team with 35 steals and is shooting 34.5% from beyond the arc.

Home Advantage
The Griffins have been excellent at home since 1999.  During that time, Westminster has compiled a 139-23 (.858) record in home games and have recorded at least 10 home wins in a season nine times.  They have also posted a 77-11 (.875) 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 76-9 (.894) in their current home and only twice have they lost more than one home game in a season.  In conference, the Griffins have a 42-5 (.894) all-time record in “The Nest” while twice going undefeated at home in league action.