SALT LAKE CITY – The 15th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team will play host to a pair of nationally ranked teams at the annual Westminster Thanksgiving Classic this weekend in the Behnken Field House. Westminster will face No. 6 St. Gregory's University (Okla.) on Friday at 6 p.m. MT. The Griffins will then play No. 3 Cal State San Marcos on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
Friday's first game features Montana Tech taking on Cal State San Marcos at 4 p.m. with Saturday's opening contest putting Montana Tech against St. Gregory's at 4 p.m.
 
On the Web: All four games of the Thanksgiving Classic will be shown live in Griffins TV with Mike Lageschulte (play-by-play) and Lance Barton (analyst) calling the Westminster games. Griffins TV is available online and on mobile devices and Roku players through the Livestream app. There will also be live stats available for all of the games with links for all of the live features available on the Westminster athletics web site.
 
Griffin Fast Break: Westminster returns home after spending the past two weeks on the road and they are 1-5 on the season. The Griffins have gone 0-2 at home this season and they are 0-1 in road games and 1-2 at neutral sites. They are ranked No. 15 in the preseason NAIA Top25 Coaches' Poll that was released on Oct. 28 and they have won four straight home games against ranked opponents.
 
Offense Notebook: The Griffins are scoring just 66 points per game through the first six games of play and they are eighth in the Frontier Conference in scoring average. The team shoots 42 percent from the floor and they are 42nd in the NAIA by making 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. They rank 37th in the country by making 7.33 threes per game and they notch 12.17 assists per contest with a 0.65 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Defense Notebook: Westminster opponents are putting up 76.17 points per game and they are shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Four of the six opponents have scored at least 70 points and three shot above 50 percent from the floor. The Griffins rank 42nd in the NAIA by holding opponents to 33.9 percent from beyond the arc. They are creating 15.67 turnovers per night and getting 7.33 steals per game.
 
Leaders: Three Griffins are averaging in double figures in scoring with Kenny Woodard leading the way at 12.8 points per game. Quincy Bair is scoring 12 points per game and Jordan Pryor is getting 10 per contest. Nick Jenson has grabbed a team-best 40 rebounds and ranks second in the conference at 6.67 rebounds per game. Woodard leads all Griffins with 18 assists and eight steals. Jenson leads the team with three blocked shots.
 
Looking Back: The Griffins split a pair of game in Idaho last weekend. They lost to College of Idaho, 80-68, in overtime after allowing a three at the buzzer of regulation and then rallied from 12 down to beat Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho), 73-68. Woodard led the team with 19 points against College of Idaho and Bair led four Griffins in double figures with 16 against Northwest Nazarene.
 
In the Polls: Westminster sits with a No. 15 national ranking according to the 2014 - 15 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Oct. 28. The Griffins received 115 points to sit tied with Dalton State (Ga.). They have now been ranked in 72 polls all-time and in the previous six polls dating back to last season.
 
Frontier Favorites: In a poll of the Frontier Conference coaches, Westminster was selected as the favorite to win the conference title this season. They received four first-place votes and finished with 42 total points to take the top spot. Defending regular season and tournament champion Rocky Mountain (Mont.) was picked to finish second after receiving 41 points and two first-place votes. Montana State-Northern and Montana Western each received one first-place vote.
 
Home Dominance: Westminster has been tough to beat in the Behnken Field House since it opened in 2006. While the Griffins have always been good at home, going 164-32 (.837) since the program was reinstated in 1999, they have compiled a 99-17 (.853) mark in their current home.
 
Playing Ranked Opponents: The Griffins will face another set of ranked teams this weekend in No. 6 St. Gregory's and No. 3 Cal State San Marcos. Westminster will now have faced at least one ranked opponent in each of the past three weekends, with all being ranked inside the top 10. They are 0-2 so far in those games after losing to No. 1 Vanguard University (Calif.) on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas and the loss at D-II No. 7 College of Idaho last Friday. Westminster is now 45-46 all-time against NAIA D-I ranked opponents and they have beat four straight ranked opponents at home.
 
Bombs Away: Through the first six games of the season, Westminster has been using the three-point shot as a key part of the offense. They have made 44 threes on the season and they are 37th in the country by making 7.33 treys per game. The Griffins are shooting 34.4 percent from long range which is 42nd national and they have made at least five triples in game on five occasions.
 
Performance from Pryor: After scoring a career-high 312 points last season, expectations are high this season for Jordan Pryor. The junior was named preseason all-conference after being selected as the Frontier Sixth-Man of the Year last season. Pryor is currently scoring 10 points per game and making 2.17 threes per outing. He opened the season with 20 points against Colorado School of Mines and then scored 18 against Colorado State University-Pueblo. Pryor has made at least one triple in eight straight games dating back to last season.
 
Crashing Jenson: Nick Jenson is averaging 7.8 points per game this season and he leads all Griffins with 40 rebounds. His 6.67 rebounds per game rank second in the Frontier and he also sits sixth by grabbing 2.17 offensive rebounds per night. Jenson is shooting 62.9 percent from the floor on the year and notched his fourth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Concordia (Calif.) on Nov. 15. He ranks 11th in school history with 86 offensive rebounds as a Griffin and is currently 25th all-time with 225 total rebounds.
 
Give and Take: After a slow start to the season, Kenny Woodard has come on lately and currently leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures four times this season and had a career-high 21 points against Vanguard on Nov. 14. Woodard also leads the team with 18 assists and eight steals on the year. He ranks ninth in the NAIA by making 90.6 percent at the foul line and he enters the weekend having made his last 15 free throw attempts.
 
Bits for Bair: Quincy Bair has been involved in a little bit of everything for the Griffins this season. He currently sits second on the team in scoring at 12 points per game and he is shooting 48.2 percent from the floor. Bair has grabbed 17 rebounds and has 14 assists, seven steals and one block on the year. He has scored in double figures four times this season and led the team in scoring twice.
 
Walker Coming On: William Walker has scored 34 points with 22 rebounds on the season while averaging 13.3 minutes per game off the bench. He went for 10 points and five rebounds in his Westminster debut against Colorado Mines on Oct. 31. Walker scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds during the two games in Idaho last weekend.
 
Shoot the Moon: Colton Moon plays his senior season among the top 10 in school history in six statistical categories. His 116 career made threes are the sixth-most in school history as are his 305 attempted triples. He ranks 10th all-time with 179 assists and his 116 career steals ranks fifth in school history. This season, Moon has recorded seven assists and nine steals, and he made three triples for a season-high 11 points against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
 
Bamgartner off the Bench: Trevor Bamgartner leads all reserves with an average of 20.5 minutes per game off the bench. The junior averages 3.5 points per game and is shooting 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. He has pulled in 19 rebounds on the season, including five on the offensive end. Bamgartner scored a career-high nine points with six rebounds in the loss to CSU-Pueblo on Nov. 7.
 
Follow the Griffins: Fans are encouraged to follow the Westminster men's basketball team on their Instagram and Twitter feeds for fun behind the scenes information from the team. You can also get all of the latest news about the Griffins through the Westminster Athletics social media outlets. You can find all of the social media information at WestminsterGriffins.com.
 
Looking Ahead: Westminster will face Saint Katherine College (Calif.) in the Behnken Field House on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. MT. The game originally scheduled for Dec. 4 has been cancelled.