The Westminster men's basketball team remains at home this weekend as they host Colorado Mesa in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The action will tip at 7:30 p.m. MT in the Behnken Field House. The game will be the first RMAC game for Westminster since the 1978-79 season.
 
Tickets for Saturday's game are available for purchase online by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.
 
3 THINGS
>The Griffins are 4-0 for only the fifth time since the program was reinstated in 1999
>Saturday's game is the third of a five-game home stand for the Griffins
>Westminster improved to 3-0 at home this season by sweeping the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
All Westminster home games are broadcast live on Griffins TV and then available to watch on demand the following day. Mike Lageschulte calls the play-by-play of the action with Head Coach Norm Parrish appearing on both the pregame and postgame shows. Griffins TV is available online and on your mobile device at portal.stretchinternet.com/Westminster.
 
Live stats will also be available during the game 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. They played the 1,000 game in school history on November 27 against The Master's. Westminster has compiled a record of 630-371 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 341-162 (.678) 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.
 
FAMILIAR 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 won the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic by claiming wins over The Master's and Texas Wesleyan last weekend. The trailed The Master's by seven with under one minute to play in regulation before rallying for the 98-97 overtime victory. Isaiah Tademy scored a career high 27 points in the win and Jordan Pryor added 14, including 11 in the final minute and overtime.
 
The Griffins then claimed the Classic title with a 77-74 win against Texas Wesleyan. They overcame a 32-30 halftime deficit with a 13-2 run early in the second half. Kenny Woodard led five Griffins in double figures with a career high 25 points. Zerrion Payton added 12 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster has started the season 4-0 for just the fifth time since 1999. The Griffins are 3-0 at home this season. They average 79.0 points per game and shoot 47.1 percent from the field. They rank fifth in the RMAC by allowing 71.2 points per game and rank second by holding the opposition to 30.5 percent from beyond the arc.
 
ABOUT COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa enters RMAC play with a 4-2 overall record and coming off claiming two wins at home during Thanksgiving weekend. The Mavericks leads the conference by scoring 88.2 points per game and they are led by Ryan Stephan, the conference preseason player of the year. Stephan is averaging 27.8 points per game and shooting 60 percent from the field.
 
SERIES NOTES
Colorado Mesa leads the all-time series against the Griffins 2-1. The Mavericks are 1-0 in games played in Salt Lake City after an 80-73 win on December 3, 2004. Westminster took the last meeting, 80-74, on December 21, 2008 at CMU.
 
GOOD START FOR PRYOR
Jordan Pryor has had a solid start to his senior season and he currently leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures in every game this season and has made at least three triples in a game three times. Pryor leads the RMAC in foul shooting by making all 21 of his attempts from the line. He has made a team-best 10 threes and is shooting 41.7 percent from deep.
 
CHASING 1,000
Pryor will start the week 19th in team history with 810 career points. He needs to average 8.64 points per game to become the 10th Griffin the reach 1,000 for their career. He also ranks sixth all-time with 139 made threes while placing fourth with 393 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
EVANS SHINES
Casey Evans begins the week second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game. He has been in double figures in all four games, including 20 points in the win over College of Idaho on November 14. Evans averages 4.5 rebounds per night with seven assists and two steals. He is shooting 58.6 percent from the floor to rank fifth in the RMAC.
 
BIG DEBUT FOR PAYTON
Zerrion Payton is scoring 12.5 points per game and he ranks third in the RMAC is assists at 5.0 per game. Payton also sits fifth in the conference by getting 2.0 steals per outing. He narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in the win against Texas Wesleyan on November 28.
 
BENCH PORDUCTION
Kenny Woodard has given the Griffins some punch off the bench this season. The senior averages 11.8 points per game while playing 23.5 minutes per night off the bench. He has twice been in double figures, including a career high 25 points against Texas Wesleyan on November 28. Woodard is second on the team with 13 assists and he also has three steals.
 
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 close out their five-game home stand with a pair of RMAC games next weekend. They face MSU Denver on December 11 before playing UCCS on December 12. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT in the Behnken Field House. Tickets for those game scan be purchased at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.