The Westminster men's basketball team will spend the weekend in Fullerton, Calif., where they will play two games at the Mid-November Classic hosted by Hope International University. The Griffins will begin the trip with an exhibition game against Hope International on Friday at 8:30 p.m. MT/7:30 p.m. PT. They will then face Biola on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. PT.
 
Both games will be held in the Darling Pavilion.
 
3 THINGS
>Westminster was defeated by Idaho State, 73-71, in their first exhibition game
>Biola will mark the second of four NAIA teams the Griffins will face to start the season
>The Griffins were 3-2 in neutral site games last season and are 67-40 in that setting since 1999
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
Both games will have live video available through the HIU Game Central portal available at portal.stretchinternet.com/hiu. There will also be live stats available in the same portal during each game.
 
FOLLOWING WESTMINSTER MEN'S BASKETBALL
Make sure to like Westminster Griffins on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube for the latest news about the Griffins. Updates of the weekend will be available on Twitter by following
@wc_griffins.
 
Fans can stay connected with Westminster men's basketball team by following @griffinbasketball on Instagram.
 
NEW SEASON
This season marks the 40th year of men's basketball at Westminster dating back to the 1956-57 campaign. During that time, Westminster has compiled a 627-371 (.628) winning percentage. This marks the 17th season of men's basketball since the program was reinstated in 1999. The Griffins have gone 338-162 (.676) in that time and they won seven Frontier Conference championships and made 10 appearances in the NAIA National Championships.
 
NEW COACH
Norm Parrish takes over as head coach of the Griffins this season, becoming the fifth coach the team has had in its 40 year history. Parrish had a record of 453-197 (.697) in 20 years as the head coach at Salt Lake Community College. He has since spent time at the University of Utah and University of Hawaii before joining the Griffins in August.
 
NEW CONFERENCE
Westminster begins the NCAA Division II membership process in the 2015-16 season. The Griffins join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this year, but will not be eligible for postseason play. Westminster was a member of the RMAC from 1967-1979 where they went 109-81 (.574) in conference play and won three conference titles.
 
LOOKING BACK
Westminster officially opened the season last Saturday with a 77-64 win over College of Idaho in the Behnken Field House. The Griffins 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 to 36.9 percent from the floor and only 8 of 31 (25.8 percent) from deep.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster is 1-0 to start the season for the 15th time in the 17 years since the program was reinstated in 1999. They are one of four teams in the RMAC that have played a game without a loss this season. The Griffins are leading the conference in scoring defense, scoring margin, and field goal defense.
 
ABOUT HOPE INTERNATIONAL
Hope International begins the week at 3-0 on the season and ranked No. 7 in the NAIA Division I. The Royals average 84 points per game and are allowing 51 points per outing. They shoot 44.4 percent from the field and force 21 turnovers per game. Tuff Barnes leads HIU in scoring at 15 points per game while Jordan Pellum is scoring 14.5 per night.
 
ABOUT BIOLA
Biola is 6-0 to start the season entering a home game with Antelope Valley on Tuesday. The Eagles are averaging 78.2 points per game and allowing the opposition to score 60 per contest. The team is shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 40.2 percent from three. Dakari Archer leads the Eagles in scoring at 18.5 points per game and has made 15 threes. Terrell Funches averages 14.8 points per game with Jeff Gonzalez adding 12.7.
 
SERIES NOTES
Westminster is 1-0 all-time against Hope International after claiming a 59-57 win on a neutral court in 2006. This year's game won't count for the Griffins, but will be counted in the HIU season record.
 
Biola holds a 3-1 edge in four all-time meetings with the Griffins. The teams haven't played since a 59-50 win by the Eagles at Biola in 2011. They have split two meetings on a neutral court with Westminster taking a 68-63 overtime decision in the last neutral site meeting in 2009.
 
EVANS SHINES
Casey Evans filled the stat sheet in the opener against College of Idaho. The junior matched his career high with 20 points while grabbing a career best nine rebounds. He tied for the team lead in both categories and led the team with six assists. Evans went 7 of 11 from the field with a pair of threes and made all four of his free throw attempts. He also recorded one steal in 35 minutes.
 
BIG DEBUT FOR PAYTON
Zerrion Payton finished his Westminster debut with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. The Salt Lake Community College transfer played a team best 37 minutes and shot 6 of 10 from the floor and made his only 3-point attempt. He grabbed two of is boards on the offensive end and was 7 of 11 at the foul line.
 
GOOD START FOR PRYOR
Jordan Pryor had a solid start to his senior season with 17 points in the opener. In 28 minutes of action, Pryor was 4 of 10 from the field with three hits from beyond the arc. He was 6 of 6 at the foul line and tallied four assists, one steal, and one blocked shot.
 
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Marcus Bryce gave the Griffins a defensive presence in the lane posting three blocks in his Griffin debut. The Snow College transfer scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds (four offensive) with one steal in the win. He made 6 of 9 from the field with three dunks.
 
PRYOR CHASING 1,000
Win 17 points against College of Idaho, Pryor now ranks 19th in team history with 772 career points. He needs to average 9.12 points per game to become the 10th Griffin the reach 1,000 for their career. Pryor averaged 12.1 points per game last season and has averaged 8.77 per game in his career. He also ranks sixth all-time with 132 made threes while placing fourth with 374 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
GRIFFINS PICKED 15TH
Westminster received 48 points and was picked to finish 15th in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released on October 15. The Griffins finished head of Western New Mexico in the poll. MSU Denver was picked to win the league with Colorado State-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa Close behind in second and third respectively.
 
ALL RMAC GAMES ON GRIFFINS TV
New this season, fans will be able to watch all Westminster conference games on the Griffins TV Game Central portal. All Griffin conference games will be shown at portal.stretchinternet.com/Westminster and you will have the ability to watch multiple conference games at the same time. You can find all of the RMAC action by visiting RMACsports.tv.
 
RMAC SHOWCASE ON ALTITUDE
The RMAC Showcase is a monthly 30-minute feature driven television show with stories and highlights from around the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Episodes are shot on location at the 16 campus sites around the RMAC, various conference championships and at the RMAC office in Colorado Springs. Now in its 12th season on the Altitude Sports Network - the most watched regional sports network in the Rockies which is seen in more than 5.1 million homes in across the country - the RMAC Showcase is the longest running program on Altitude, not produced by the network itself. Altitude is available in the Salt Lake City market on Comcast 61, Dish Network 413, and DirecTV 681.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Westminster will spend next weekend at home as they play host to the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic on November 27-28. The Griffins will face The Master's at 6 p.m. MT in the 27th after Montana Tech plays Texas Wesleyan at 4 p.m. MT. Westminster will also play at 6 p.m. MT on the 28th against either Montana Tech or Texas Wesleyan.