The Westminster men's basketball team is home this weekend as they play host to the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic. The bracket style event features the Griffins along with The Master's, Montana Tech, and Texas Wesleyan. The action begins with Montana Tech facing Texas Wesleyan at 4 p.m. MT, on Friday. The Griffins will then play The Master's at 6 p.m. that same night.
 
Saturday's action will see the two winners from Friday meet while the two opening night losers facing off. The Griffins will play the 6 p.m. game regardless of Friday's outcomes with the first game tipping at 4 p.m.
 
Every game of the Thanksgiving Classic will be played in the Behnken Field House. Tickets for the event are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets. Fans can receive $1 off admission for Friday when purchasing tickets online with the promo code Turkey.
 
3 THINGS
>This year is the 11th time the Griffins have hosted the Thanksgiving Classic
>Westminster is 17-3 all-time during the event
>The Griffins are 1-0 at home this season after a 77-64 win over College of Idaho on November 14
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
All four games of the Thanksgiving Classic will be broadcast live on Griffins TV. Mike Lageschulte will call the play-by-play of the Westminster games with David Winkworth calling the other two games. Griffins TV is available online and on your mobile device at portal.stretchinternet.com/Westminster.
 
Live stats will also be available during all four games. They will be available in the Game Central portal and at www.sidearmstats.com/westminster/mbball.
 
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. For updates of the game action, make sure to follow @wc_griffins on Twitter.
 
Fans can stay connected with Westminster men's basketball team by following @griffinbasketball on Instagram.
 
40 YEARS OF HOOPS
This season marks the 40th year of men's basketball at Westminster dating back to the 1956-57 campaign and the team will play its 1,000th game on Friday against The Master's. During that time, Westminster has compiled a record of 628-371 for a .629 winning percentage. This marks the 17th season of men's basketball since the program was reinstated in 1999. The Griffins have gone 339-162 (.677) 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 swept two games at the Mid-November Classic hosted by Hope International University last weekend. The Griffins began the trip by defeating HIU, 56-53, in an exhibition game on Friday. They rallied from 14 points down in the second half for the win.
 
The next night, Westminster held Biola to 26.2 percent shooting in a 64-50 win. Kenny Woodard and Jordan Pryor scored 13 points apiece in the win.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster has started the season 2-0 for the 10th time since 1999. The Griffins are 1-0 at home this season. They average 70.5 points per game and shoot 44.7 percent from the field. They lead the RMAC by allowing the opposition to score 57 points per night and with a +13.5 scoring margin.
 
ABOUT THE MASTER'S
The Master's will come to town at 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in road games. The Mustangs are scoring 79.8 points per game while allowing 82.5. Delewis Johnson leads the team in scoring at 18 points per game with Reid Shackelford adding 17.5.
 
ABOUT MONTANA TECH
Montana Tech begins the week at 5-2 after dropping a pair of games last weekend. The Orediggers rank 11th in the NAIA by scoring 95.4 points per game. Jalen Coates is 15th in the NAIA in scoring at 21.4 points per contest.
 
ABOUT TEXAS WESLEYAN
Texas Wesleyan starts the week at 5-1 on the year after falling to Wiley in their last game. The Rams are scoring 87.5 points per game to rank 24th in the NAIA and they grab 16.3 offensive rebounds per game. Sam Akano is 12th in the NAIA in scoring with an average of 22 points per game.
 
SERIES NOTES
The Griffins are 0-2 all-time against The Master's with both of the previous games being played on a neutral court. TMC won the previous meeting, 85-84, on November 3, 2007.
 
Westminster is 27-7 all-time against its former Frontier Conference rival Montana Tech. The Griffins are 15-2 in games played in Salt Lake City and they have won five of the last seven matchups.
 
Texas Wesleyan won the only previous meeting with the Griffins, 79-75, on a neutral court on December 29, 2011.
 
EVANS SHINES
Casey Evans is off to a fast start in his junior season. After filling the stat sheet in the opener against College of Idaho with 20 points and nine rebounds, Evans went for 10 points and four rebounds against Biola. He is tied for the team lead in scoring with 30 points and also ranks at the top of the team rankings in rebounds and assists.
 
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 then went for eight points and two rebounds in the win over Biola. Payton leads the Griffins with four steals and he is second in the RMAC by making 66.7 percent from beyond the arc.
 
GOOD START FOR PRYOR
Jordan Pryor has had a solid start to his senior season and he currently is tied for the team lead with 30 points. Pryor leads the RMAC by making 16 of 16 at the foul line. He went 10 for 10 against Biola, marking the second time in his career he has done that.
 
CHASING 1,000
Pryor will start the week 19th in team history with 785 career points. He needs to average 8.96 points per game to become the 10th Griffin the reach 1,000 for their career. He also ranks sixth all-time with 133 made threes while placing fourth with 379 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
The Griffins will remain at home next weekend as they open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play against Colorado Mesa on December 5. The game will tip at 7:30 p.m. MT, and be broadcast live on Griffins TV. Tickets for the game can be purchased online at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.