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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's basketball team opens the 2013 Frontier Conference Tournament on Wednesday as they play host to Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in a quarterfinal game. The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. in the Behnken Field House between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

Game Coverage
Wednesday's game will be carried live on Griffins TV and on Comcast 6 in Utah. Mike Lageschulte (play-by-play) and Lance Barton (analyst) will be on hand to deliver the action with the pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. Live stats will also be available for the game with links for Griffins TV and live stats available in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

Frontier Conference Tournament
The other quarterfinal game on Wednesday is in Havre, Mont. between the third-seed Montana State-Northern and the No. 6-seed Great Falls (Mont.). That game will also tip at 7 p.m. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Montana Western is the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds respectively and they have a bye into Saturday's semi-finals. Complete Tournament information can be found at WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins the postseason after finishing 22-7 during the regular season. The Griffins finished fourth in the Frontier with a 9-6 record to earn a home game in the quarterfinals. They claimed a 74-63 win at Carroll (Mont.) last Thursday before taking down Montana Tech, 75-57, on Senior Night last Saturday.

The Griffins are 11-1 at home this year and they were 7-1 in Frontier home games. They begin the week winner of six consecutive home contests and they average 86.3 points per game when playing in the Behnken Field House. Westminster is 17-4 on the year when they hold the lead at halftime and they are 20-1 when leading with five minutes left in regulation.

Westminster currently ranks second in the Frontier Conference in scoring at 79.07 points per game and they have scored at least 70 points in each of the last three games played. The Griffins scored at least 80 points in 14 games during the year and they reach the 90-point plateau in five games. They shoot 47.2 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, ranking in the NAIA top 50 in each category.

Defensively, Westminster allows 65.07 points per game to rank third in the league and 16th in the NAIA. The Griffins hold the opposition to 43 percent shooting and they are ninth in the country in scoring margin at plus 14 per game. They force 19.9 turnovers per contest and are No.1 in the NAIA in turnover margin at 7.14.

Against the Opposition
The Griffins hold a 27-8 edge all-time against Rocky Mountain. They swept the two games this season, winning 72-64 in Billings on Jan. 26, and then 85-71 in the Behnken Field House on Jan. 31. The Griffins have taken 11 of the last 12 games dating back to the 2008-09 season and they have won two straight in Salt Lake City.

These two teams have a history of playing in the conference tournament. Wednesday's game will mark the eighth postseason meeting with the Griffins holding a 4-3 edge. Westminster has won three straight tournament match-ups with Rocky, including a 73-53 win in last year's quarterfinals.

Postseason History
Westminster enters the 2013 postseason with a 22-20 all-time record in the postseason. The Griffins have compiled an 18-11 mark during the Frontier Conference Tournament over the past five seasons. They won the Frontier Tournament championship in both 2009 and 2010. When playing at home during the conference tournament, Westminster is 10-1 all-time and they have never lost a postseason game in the Behnken Field House.

Winning 300
With a 92-52 win over Dickinson State (N.D.) on Jan. 17, Westminster reached the 300-win mark in the modern era of the program. Westminster reinstated basketball for the 1999-2000 season and in that time the Griffins have compiled a record of 307-132 record in the 14 years for a .699 winning percentage. The team has won at least 20 games in 12 of the 14 seasons, including 11 straight, and won seven Frontier Conference championships. Westminster has been to the NAIA National Championships nine times since 1999 and had 12 players named a NAIA All-American.

12 Straight with 20
Thanks to their 95-82 win over Lewis-Clark State on Feb. 2, Westminster reached the 20-win mark for the 12th consecutive season. The Griffins have surpassed 20 wins in all but two of the 14 seasons since the program was brought back in 1999. The current 12-year streak is the longest active streak in the league with Montana State-Northern following with six straight 20-win seasons.

Creating Scoring Opportunities
Westminster currently leads the NAIA in turnover margin (+7.14) thanks to forcing 19.9 turnovers per game. They are coming up with 10.96 steals a night to rank eighth in the NAIA and they have established a new school record with 307 steals so far this year. The Griffins score 22.1 points per game from opponent turnovers which accounts for 27.9 percent of the team's scoring average. In contrast, Griffin opponents are scoring just 10.9 points from turnover per game or 16.7 percent of their total points.

Attacking the Paint
The Griffins have been real good at scoring in the paint this season. They average 39.1 points per game down low which helps with the 52.7 percent they shoot on 2-point field goals this season. Westminster scores 49.4 percent of all their points in the paint and they outscore the opposition by 11.4 points per game in the key. Westminster has scored at least 40 points in the paint in 11 of the teams last 13 games.

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 13.54 points per game and he has scored in double figures in 20 games this season. He shoots 46.5 percent from the field and leads the team with 79 assists and 54 steals. Orchard's 1.93 steals per game rank 38th in the NAIA and he is 35th in total steals. He also ranks 24th in the country with a 2.08 assist-to-turnover ratio.

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 1,319 career points entering the week to rank fourth in school history. He is also third all-time at Westminster with 151 career steals. Orchard ranks in the school's top 10 in field goals made, field goals attempted, free throws made, free throws attempted, rebounds and assists.

Robertson Making an Impact
Tallon Robertson has made a significant impact of the Griffins front line this season. The junior is averaging 10.75 points per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. Robertson has led the team in scoring in eight games and has reached double figures 14 times. He has recorded three 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 6.43 rebounds per game. He ranks sixth in the Frontier in rebounding and fourth in the league by grabbing 2.86 offensive rebounds per night. Drecksel grabs 15.3 percent of all available rebounds while he is on the floor with a 13.3 percent on the offensive end. His 80 offensive rebounds rank second in school history for a season and he is just four shying of tying the record held by Nick Booth during the 2003-04 season. Drecksel is scoring 9.7 points per game this season to rank third on the team and he has reach double figures in three consecutive contests.

The Blake Show
Blake Skidmore is averaging 9.4 points per game and shooting 42.3 percent from the field. He makes 37.2 percent from beyond the arc while also pulling in 2.8 rebound per outing. Skidmore has scored in double figures in 13 games during the year and has also recorded 43 assists and 37 steals.

Bjornberg off the Bench
Jordan Bjornberg has been a steady contributor off the Griffins bench this season. The senior is averaging 8.5 points in 16.4 minutes per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor. Bjornberg has scored in double figures on 13 occasions during the year and he grabs 2.8 rebounds per game with 14 blocked shots and 30 steals this season.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is holding down the No. 14 position in the current edition of the Massey Ratings. The Griffins are the second-highest rated team from the Frontier Conference and they are sixth in the power rating. The computers rank them team 18th in offense and 22nd in defense while they have played the 14th-rated schedule.

Airing on Altitude
Westminster's games at Great Falls (Mont.) (Feb. 15) and Carroll (Mont.) (Feb. 21) were broadcast live in HD on the Altitude Sports Network. Altitude Sports is available within a 10-State territory of the Rocky Mountain Region including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. Altitude can be found in Utah on Comcast channel 61, Dish Network channel 410 and DirecTV channel 681.

Looking Ahead
Should the Griffins advance past Rocky Mountain, they would play on the road on Saturday in the semi-finals. The opponent will depend on the result of the game between MSU-Northern and Great Falls as they tournament is re-seeded after the quarterfinals.