SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Westminster men's basketball team opened the 39th Tom Byron Classic with an 81-80 overtime victory over Victoria (Canada) on Monday afternoon at Murchison Gymnasium.
 
Westminster (6-6) trailed by two with 6.4 seconds remaining when Quincy Bair went to the foul line for the Griffins. He missed both attempts, but the second fell to Nick Jenson who threw the ball over his head as he was going out of bounds to preserve the possession for the Griffins. The ball found Jordan Pryor who took one dribble and buried a three with 3.1 on the clock and his team now leading 81-80. A Victoria three at the buzzer would come up short and Westminster had its fourth straight win.
 
Things looked bleak for the Griffins late in regulation as they trailed 66-60 with 4:31 to play. They were able to tie the game at 68-68, only to see Reiner Theil put Victoria in front when the ball was knocked out of his hands where it went through the hoop with 41 seconds to play. Bair would hit a left-handed driving layup just before the buzzer to force the game into overtime.
 
The Griffins only shot 39.2 percent from the floor in the game and they were just 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) in the extra period. They were efficient from beyond the arc, making eight of their 16 attempts and all four treys in overtime. Westminster also grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and had 12 assists and only six turnovers.
 
While Victora shot 57.4 percent from the floor – a season-high for a Westminster opponent – they committed 19 turnovers. The Vikes finished 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from deep with 19 assists and seven blocked shots.
 
Pryor led four Griffins in double figures with 18 points after scoring just three points in the first half. The junior was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and perfect on four free throw attempts. Bair added 16 points and Casey Evans matched his career-high with 16. Kenny Woodard added 11 points off the bench and Colton Moon made a pair of threes for eight points and five steals.
 
Chris McLaughlin led all scorers with 22 points for the Vikes. He was 9-of-11 from the field and had four blocks. Jordan Charles added 18 points and Theil had 10.
 
Westminster will complete the trip to Santa Barbara on Tuesday when they face Saskatchewan (Canada) at 4 p.m. MT in the final non-conference game of the season.