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SALT LAKE CITY – After defeating Rocky Mountain College in Tuesday's quarterfinals, the Westminster College men's basketball team will now face No. 17 Montana Western in the Frontier Conference Tournament Semi-Finals. The game will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. at Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon, Mont. The winner advances to Monday's Championship Game at the home of the highest remaining seed.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster heads to the semis at 21-10 overall and as the No. 3 seed in the tournament. They earned that seed by finishing 8-6 during league play. The Griffins split the two regular season meetings against UMW with each team winning on its home floor.

The Griffins rank fourth in the Frontier in scoring at 72.58 points per game.  They have scored 2,250 points this year which is third-most in the league and 33rd in the NAIA.  They lead the Frontier in field goal percentage (51%) and rank second in free throw percentage (74.1%).

Defensively, Westminster holds the opposition to 65.61 points per outing while holding them to 44.2% shooting from the floor.  The Griffins grab 31.03 rebounds per game while also blocking 3.03 shots per contest.  They average 7.81 steals with a positive 2.29 turnover margin.  The team averages 14.64 assists per game with a 1.19 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Jake Orchard is third in the league in scoring at 15.54 points per game and has scored 427 total points.  He leads the Frontier by shooting 53.2% from the field and is third by shooting 81.6% at the charity stripe.  Ben Walker ranks 11th in the conference by scoring 11.81 points per game and is first with 51 total blocks.

Walker grabs 5.29 rebounds per game to lead the team and ranks 10th in the Frontier.  Alex Drecksel ranks 11th in the conference by grabbing 1.70 offensive rebounds per game.  Chris Cassity averages a team-best 2.84 assists per outing while Jordan Hayter has a team-best 43 steals. 

Game Coverage
Friday's game will be broadcast live by Montana Western. Wally Feldt provides the play-by-play with coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m.  Live Stats will also be available for the game with links to both features available at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Frontier Conference Tournament
The other semi-final game on Friday features No. 5 seed Great Falls playing at No. 1 seed Montana State-Northern. UGF advanced with an 80-78 win at Carroll in the quarterfinals while MSUN defeated Montana Tech 72-57.

The men's championship game is slated for Monday, March 5 at 7 p.m. at the home site of the highest remaining seed. For complete postseason information be sure to visit WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Postseason Performance
Westminster enters Friday having played 41 postseason games in the program's history. The Griffins have gone 22-19 all-time in the postseason and are 18-10 during the Frontier Conference Tournament. Under the new format with games being played on campus sites, Westminster is 8-0 at home with two tournament titles.

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 17 games and nine times been above 55%. The Griffins also shoot 74.1% at the foul line to rank second in the Frontier and rank fourth in the NAIA.

Specialty Numbers
Westminster is averaging 72.6 points per game and is scoring 35.8 of those points in the paint.  The Griffins have 1,110 points in the key area this season and have limited the opposition to just 840 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. 24 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings.  They jumped one position from last week and have a rating of 0.67.  They are rated second among the eight teams in the Frontier Conference and sit one spot ahead of Montana Western. The Griffins have the No. 27 rated schedule while placing 14th defensively.

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 15.5 points per game.  The junior is third in the Frontier with that average while also leading the league with a 53.2% field goal percentage.  Orchard has reached double figures in 24 of the 28 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 12 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).

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 11.81 points per game while also grabbing a team-best 164 rebounds.  The senior forward leads the Frontier at 1.65 blocks per game and 13th in the NAIA with 51 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 12 games coming off the bench, Reilly is averaging 10.1 points per game while also picking up 27 assists. The Griffins have gone 8-4 with Reilly playing as a reserve.

Over the last four games, Reilly is scoring 17 points per game while shooting 54.8% from the floor. He is also 9-of-19 from beyond the arc during the stretch with 11 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. He has posted back-to-back 21 point games to lead the team to two victories.

Hustling Hayter
Hayter has started all 31 games this season for the Griffins.  He is third on the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game.  Hayter has reached double figures in scoring on 16 occasions and has three times been the team's top scorer in a game.  He has recorded 85 assists and is eighth in the Frontier with an average of 2.74 per game. He is also leads the Griffins with 43 steals and is seventh in the Frontier at 1.39 per game.

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 74.1% at the stripe this season and has shot 75% or better on 16 occasions.  They rank second in the conference in free throw shooting and fourth in the NAIA.  Orchard makes 81.6% of his trips to the line to rank third in the league and 22nd 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 77.9% in those situations, making 74-of-95 clutch attempts.  Orchard has gone 32-for-34 (94.1%) in clutch situations while AJ Reilly is 13-of-16 (81.3%).

Home Advantage
The Griffins have been excellent at home since 1999.  During that time, Westminster has compiled a 141-24 (.855) record in home games and have recorded at least 10 home wins in a season nine times.  They have also posted a 78-12 (.867) 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 78-10 (.886) in their current home and only twice have they lost more than one home game in a season.  In conference, the Griffins have a 43-6 (.878) all-time record in “The Nest” while twice going undefeated at home in league action.