SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team opened the new season by defeating former NAIA rival College of Idaho, 77-64, in the Behnken Field House on Saturday night.
 
Westminster (1-0) had four players score in double figures including 20 apiece from Casey Evans and Zerrion Payton. They shot 48.1 percent from the field and made 7 of 19 (36.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Griffins held College of Idaho (3-2) to 36.9 percent from the floor and only 8 of 31 (25.8 percent) from deep.
 
The visitors had an early 9-0 run and opened their largest lead of the night at 18-9 with 10:24 to play in the opening half.  The Griffins then scored 11 straight points during a three-minute span and took the lead on an Evans layup with 7:13 on the first half clock.
 
Leading 30-26 coming out of the intermission, Westminster opened the period with a 12-5 run to build a 42-31 advantage with 16:53 to play. The Yotes would close to within five three minutes later before the Griffins went on a 13-0 run in which they held the visitors to 0 of 8 shooting with five misses from three.
 
The 20 points for Evans matched his career high and the junior added nine rebounds and six assists. He made 7 of 11 from the field with a pair of triples.  Payton notched 20 in his first official game with the Griffins while getting five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
 
Jordan Pryor scored 17 points with four assists in the win while Marcus Bryce added 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
College of Idaho got a game high 23 points from Joey Nebeker. Aitor Zubizarreta added 15 points and six rebounds with Dominique Jordan scoring 11.
 
The Griffins will now head to Fullerton, Calif., to play a pair of games next weekend. They will face Hope International in an exhibition game for the Griffins on Friday at 8:30 p.m. MT/7:30 p.m. PT.