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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's basketball team returns home for two Frontier Conference games this week, starting on Thursday against Rocky Mountain (Mont.). The 19th-ranked Griffins then welcome No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) to town in one of the top NAIA games of the week. Both games will be played in the Behnken Field House starting at 7:30 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to vote for Saturday's game as the NAIA Game of the Week by visiting the NAIA Facebook page at Facebook.com/PlayNAIA. Each week the NAIA makes four games available for fans to vote on as the top game and this is the second time a Westminster game has been featured. Voting closes on Thursday morning.

Game Coverage
Both games this week will be broadcast live on Griffins TV and Comcast 6. Mike Lageschulte (play-by-play) and Lance Barton (analyst) will be calling the game and fans can interact with the guys via Twitter by following @griffins_tv. Live Stats will also be available for both of the games this week. Links for all of the live features can be found in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster returns home at 18-4 overall and 5-3 in Frontier Conference play. They are riding the longest winning streak in the league at five straight games and have made their way back to No. 3 in the conference standings. The Griffins picked up two wins on the road last week after defeating Dickinson State (N.D.) and Rocky Mountain.

The Griffins have gone 8-1 at home this season and are 46-7 all-time in Frontier games played in the Behnken Field House. They are 2-2 in games played on Thursday this season while posting a 9-2 record on Saturdays. Westminster is 13-3 this year when leading at halftime and 16-1 when holding the lead with five minutes remaining in regulation.

Westminster is scoring 80.38 points per game this season and rank 21st in the NAIA in that category. They are second in the Frontier in scoring and also in field goal percentage where they shoot 47.1 percent from the field. The Griffins make 35.2 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc and shoot 70.2 percent at the foul line. They average 15.38 assists per game and have a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks sixth in the country.

Griffin opponents are scoring 62.71 points per game and that ranks 11th in the nation in scoring defense. Westminster has held eight opponents to less than 60 points and five straight below 70 points. They hold the opposition to 42 percent from the floor and 32.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Griffins force 21.4 turnovers per game which leads to them leading the nation in turnover margin at 8.81.

Against the Opposition
The Griffins have gone 26-8 all-time against Rocky Mountain and they have won three straight and 10 of the last 11 after a 72-64 win in Billings on Saturday. The teams split two games in SLC last year with Rocky winning during the regular season and the Griffins winning in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Westminster holds a 19-13 edge in the all-time series with Lewis-Clark State. The Warriors beat the Griffins 80-75 in Lewiston, Idaho last month to snap a nine-game winning streak by Westminster in the series. Westminster has won five straight meetings in the Behnken Field House.

Winning 300
The 92-52 win over DSU on Jan. 17 was the 300th by the program since it was reinstated for the 1999-2000 season. Westminster has a 303-129 record in the 14 years they have played since reinstatement for a .701 winning percentage.
The team has won at least 20 games in 11 of the 13 seasons, including 10 straight, and won seven Frontier Conference championships. Westminster has been to the NAIA National Championships nine times since 1999 and has 12 NAIA All-Americans.

Closing in on 20
Westminster sits at 18-4 on the year and just two wins shy of 20 for the 12th time in school history. The Griffins have reached the 20-win plateau in each of the previous 11 seasons. They set a school record with 30 wins and an .857 winning percentage during the 2008-09 season. Westminster went 21-11 last season in the first year under current head coach Adam Hiatt. The 11-year streak is the longest active streak in the league with Montana State-Northern following with six straight 20-win seasons.

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 13.48 points per game and he has scored in double figures in 15 games this season and four straight. He shoots 47.5 percent from the field and leads the team with 55 assists and 40 steals. Orchard's 1.91 steals per game rank 49th in the NAIA and he is 42nd with 40 total steals.

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 1,223 career points entering the weekend to rank fifth in school history. At his current career scoring average of 15.3 points per game, Orchard is on pace to score 1,345 points through the team's first game of the Frontier Conference Tournament. He is also third all-time at Westminster with 137 career steals. Orchard needs to average 20.25 points and 3.5 steals per game over the team's remaining eight games on the schedule to become the school's all-time leader in each category.

Into the Lineup
Blake Skidmore has transitioned to the starting with three games in double figures in the last six games he has started. The junior is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game and he is shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from beyond the arc. He came off the bench in 14 of the team's first 15 games and averaged 10.4 points per game in those contests. In seven games as a starter, Skidmore is averaging 11.7 points per game and shoots 42.2 percent from the floor.

Robertson Making an Impact
Tallon Robertson has made a significant impact of the Griffins front line this season. The junior is averaging 10.9 points per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the floor. Robertson has led the team in scoring in six games and has reached double figures 12 times, including three straight games. Robertson has two double-doubles and his career-high 21 points over Saint Xavier (Ill.) led him to MVP honors at the Tom Byron Classic.

Crashing the Glass
Senior Alex Drecksel is the team's leading rebounder at 6.19 rebounds per game. He ranks sixth in the Frontier in rebounding and third in the league by grabbing 2.86 offensive rebounds per night. Drecksel grabs 14.8 percent of all available rebounds while he is on the floor with a 13.2 percent on the offensive end. His 60 offensive rebounds rank ninth in school history for a season and he needs to average 3.1 per game over the remaining eight games on the schedule to set the school record. He is seventh in team history with 124 career offensive rebounds and is coming off his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Rocky on Saturday.

Creating Scoring Opportunities
Westminster currently leads the NAIA in turnover margin (+8.81) thanks to forcing 21.4 turnovers per game. They are coming up with 12 steals a night to rank sixth in the NAIA and need just five steals to set a new school record for steals in a season with 257. The Griffins score 23.9 points per game from opponent turnovers which accounts for 29.7 percent of the team's 80.4 points per game. In contrast, Griffin opponents are scoring just 10 points from turnover per game or 15.9 percent of their total points.

Massey Ratings
The Griffins held at No. 6 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings. The national computer ratings have Westminster with a rating of 0.89 while having them fourth in the power rating at 18.39. They are rated 11th in defense and 18th in offense while having played the 10th-toughest schedule. The Griffins are the top-rated team from the Frontier Conference with Lewis-Clark State coming in at No. 7.

Frontier Conference Tournament
The 2013 Frontier Conference Tournament will be played from Feb. 27–Mar. 5 at the home site of the highest seed in each game. The top six teams in the final conference standings qualify for the tournament with the top two teams receiving a bye into the semi-finals. Entering the week, Westminster sits in the No. 3 position and would host Rocky Mountain in a quarterfinal game on Feb. 27 in the Behnken Field House.

Looking Ahead
Westminster begins a stretch of four straight road games on Feb. 9 when they face Montana Western in Dillon, Mont. The action from Straugh Gymnasium will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is the only game of the week for the Griffins.