The Westminster men's basketball team closes out a five-game home stand by hosting two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games this weekend. On Friday, the Griffins play host RMAC preseason favorite to win the league, MSU Denver. Westminster will then welcome UC Colorado Springs to Salt Lake City on Saturday. Both games wil tip at 7:30 p.m. MT from the Behnken Field House.
 
Tickets for both of this week's games, and all remaining home games, are now available online at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.
 
3 THINGS
>The Griffins begin the week at 5-0 for just the fourth time since 1999
>The win over CMU was the first RMAC win by a Westminster men's basketball team since 1979
>Westminster enters the week at 4-0 at home this season
 
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 631-371 for a .630 winning percentage. This marks the 17th season of men's basketball since the program was reinstated in 1999. The Griffins have gone 342-162 (.679) in that time and they won seven Frontier Conference championships and made 10 appearances in the NAIA National Championships.
 
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 opened RMAC play with a 68-61 win against Colorado Mesa last Saturday. The Griffins shot 41.2 percent from the floor and made 10 threes in the win. Casey Evans went for career highs with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster is the only unbeaten still remaining in the RMAC with a 5-0 record. This is only the fourth time since the program was reinstated in 1999 that the Griffins have started 5-0. While they are scoring just 76.8 points per game to rank 10th in the RMAC, the team is second in the conference by holding the opposition to only 69.2 points per game. The Griffins are shooting 45.9 percent from the field and holding opponents to 41 percent shooting and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc.
 
ABOUT MSU DENVER
MSU Denver makes the trip to SLC as the preseason favorite to win the conference. The Roadrunners are 3-4 on the season and they are 1-0 in RMAC play after defeating UCCS, 69-66, in the conference opener. MSUD leads the league in scoring defense at 66.3 points allowed per night while averaging 62.6 per game themselves. Tony Dobbinson scores a team-best 12.6 points per game while Peter Moller adds 10.7.
 
ABOUT UC COLORADO SPRINGS
UCCS begins the week at 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the RMAC after losing at MSU Denver last weekend. The Mountain Lions rank ninth in the conference by scoring 78.2 points per game and they are allowing 81.0 points to the opposition. Alex Welsh leads the team and is fourth in the RMAC by averaging 21.3 points per game. He has led the team in scoring seven times with five 20-point performances.
 
EVANS SHINES
Casey Evans enters the week as the Westminster leader with 76 points. He ranks 13th in the RMAC by scoring 15.2 points per game and sits 11th by making 47.1 percent from beyond the arc. Evans also leads the Griffins with 29 rebounds and he is 10th in the MRAC by grabbing 5.0 defensive rebounds per game. He is coming off a career high 22 points and 11 rebounds in the win over CMU on December 5. That was his second 20-point game of the season and third in his career.
 
GOOD START FOR PRYOR
Jordan Pryor has had a solid start to his senior season and he is currently second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game. He has scored in double figures four times 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 11 threes and is shooting 39.3 percent from deep.
 
CHASING 1,000
Pryor will start the week 19th in team history with 817 career points. He needs to average 8.71 points per game to become the 10th Griffin the reach 1,000 for their career. He also ranks sixth all-time with 140 made threes while placing fourth with 397 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
BENCH PORDUCTION
Kenny Woodard has given the Griffins some punch off the bench this season. The senior averages 12.2 points per game while playing 24.2 minutes per night off the bench. He has been in double figures three times, including a career high 25 points against Texas Wesleyan on November 28. Woodard is second on the team with 17 assists and sits third in the RMAC by shooting 90.9 percent at the foul line. Woodard is shooting 89.8 percent at the stripe as a Griffin, which would rank as the highest percentage in team history.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Westminster will spend next weekend on the road as they play the final two games of 2015. The week's action starts with a game at Colorado Christian on December 18 before visiting Colorado School of Mines on December 19. Both games will be broadcast live on Griffins TV.