SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team lost a third straight game when South Dakota School of Mines & Technology rallied for a 68-63 overtime victory on Saturday night in the Behnken Field House.
 
Westminster (7-4, 3-4 RMAC) scored the game's first seven points and led for the first 28:08 of action. South Dakota Mines (6-5, 4-3) took its first lead of the night on a Brian Orr three with 11:24 remaining. The Griffins would counter with eight of the next 10 points to lead 47-44 with 6:16 remaining.
 
Casey Evans converted a pair of 3-point-plays to have the Griffins in front by two with 1:08 in regulation. Orr then made a jumper with 58 seconds left to even the game. Neither team would convert on possession in the final minute and the game went to overtime.
 
Down four with 1:11 to play in the extra period, Kenny Woodard made a three and Marcus Bryce made one of two free throws to tie the game at 63-63 – the sixth tie of the night – with 59.7 seconds to play. Jaisean Jackson put the Hardrockers in front for god with a pull-up jumper with 33 seconds remaining.
 
On the following possession, Bryce rebounded an Evans missed jumper and found Brandon Warr for an open 3-pointer that came up short. After Justin Shock split the ensuing free throws, Woodard missed a long three that sealed the Griffin loss.
 
Westminster finished the game shooting 43.1 percent from the floor and they made just three of their final 11 shots. SDSMT shot 55.6 percent in the second half to help finish the game at an even 50 percent. The visitors also scored 23 points from 15 Griffin turnovers and had a 26-10 edge in points in the paint.
 
Evans finished the game with 16 points to lead the griffins. He made 5 of 12 shots with five rebounds and three assists. Jordan Pryor scored 15 points and Marcus Bryce had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Woodard tallied a career high eight assists.
 
The Griffins finished the game with 16 assists on 22 made field goals. They had six steals and three blocks and forced SDSMT into 14 turnovers.
 
Orr made 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and finished with a game high 24 points off the bench. Jackson added 15 points and Marco Pascolo had 13 for the Hardrockers.
 
Westminster will now hit the road for a pair of games next weekend. They will begin the trip on Friday at UC Colorado Springs.