The Westminster men's basketball team will spend the weekend playing a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road games. The Griffins open their trip on Friday in Chadron, Neb. with a 7:30 p.m. MT game at Chadron State College. They will complete the trip on Saturday at Regis University at 7 p.m. MT in Denver.
 
3 THINGS
>Westminster will play six of the next eight games on the road
>The Griffins are just 2-7 after starting the year 6-0
>Westminster has split the two games in each of the two RMAC road trips
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
Both of the Griffins games this weekend will be available to watch on Griffins TV with the home school producing the content. Griffins TV is available online and is optimized for mobile devices in the Game Central portal available at portal.stretchinternet.com/Westminster.
 
You can also follow the action of both games with live stats available at WestminsterGriffins.com/live.
 
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.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster enters this week's play at 8-7 overall and 4-7 in RMAC action. They are currently in 12th-place in the conference standings and two games behind the eighth position. The Griffins are 2-2 in road games this season and after splitting each of their conference road trips.
 
The Griffins rank 12th in the RMAC by scoring 70.6 points per game and they are fifth in the league by holding the opposition to 72.7 points per night. The team is shooting 43.4 percent from the field and they are seventh in the RMAC in holding opponents to 43.8 percent shooting. Westminster is third in the league by making 74.8 percent at the foul line.
 
Four Griffins are averaging in double figures on the season with Casey Evans leading the way at 13.3 points per game. Zerrion Payton is scoring 12.5 points per night and he leads the Griffins with 96 rebounds and 58 assists. Kenny Woodard scores 11.0 points per game and Jordan Pryor adds 10.8.
 
Payton ranks fourth in the RMAC by posting 3.9 assists per game and seventh by grabbing 4.8 defensive rebounds per night. Marcus Bryce leads the team with 16 blocked shots and he is fifth in the league at 1.1 blocks per game.
 
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 634-378 for a .626 winning percentage.
 
LOOKING BACK
Westminster suffered through its worst shooting performance of the season and fell to Adams State, 79-60, on Friday night. The Griffins made just 25 of 71 field goal attempts and finished at a season low 35.2 percent. After Zerrion Payton made the team's first 3-point attempt of the night, they would then miss 19 straight and finish 2 of 22 overall. Payton led the Westminster effort with 18 points while adding nine rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
 
The Griffins then fell behind early and lost to Fort Lewis, 89-74, on Saturday night. Fort Lewis started the game with a 21-4 run and made a total of 15 threes in the game, the most ever allowed by a Westminster team. Casey Evans led the Griffins with 20 points for his third 20-point game of the season. Payton added 19 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. Brandon Warr notched his second straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
ABOUT CHADRON STATE
The Eagles begin the week at 5-10 overall and 3-8 in RMAC play. They have dropped five straight contests and eight of their past nine. Chadron is 5-2 at home this season and they average 68.6 points per game. Warren Gordon scores a team-high 12.6 points per game with Billy Johnson adding 11.7 and Sharif Black getting 10.1
 
ABOUT REGIS
The Rangers will start the week at 7-10 overall and with a 5-6 mark in RMAC action. They have gone 4-2 after starting conference play with a 1-4 record. Regis has gone 3-3 in home games on the year and they are second in the conference by making 38.4 percent from beyond the arc. Dexter Sienko and Jarrett Brodbeck combine to score 31.9 points per game.
 
SERIES NOTES
The Griffins are 1-0 all-time against Chadron State after a 94-69 win over the Eagles in 2012 in the Behnken Field House. Friday will be the team's first-ever meeting in Chadron.
 
Westminster and Regis will play for the first time when the team meet on Saturday in Denver.
 
EVANS SHINES
Casey Evans enters the week as the Westminster leader with 200 points. He is shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and has gone 21 of 51 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Evans has scored at least 20 points in a game three times this season and he had a career high 22 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Colorado Mesa on December 5. Earlier this week, Evans became the first Griffin men's basketball player to be named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team.
 
CHASING 1,000
Jordan Pryor will start the week 13th in team history with 895 career points and he is scoring 10.8 points per game this season. He needs to average 9.5 points per game to become the 10th Griffin the reach 1,000 for their career. He also ranks fourth all-time with 153 made threes while placing third with 436 attempts from beyond the arc.  Pryor leads the RMAC by shooting 94.4 percent at the foul line.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFER
Zerrion Payton has been doing a little of everything for the Griffins this season. The junior is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game and he has led the team in scoring four times. Payton also leads the team with 96 rebounds and 58 assists. He ranks fourth in the RMAC at 3.9 assists per game. Payton is one of only two players in the league to rank in the top-15 in rebounds, assists, and steals.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Westminster will be back in the Behnken Field House next weekend as they host a pair of RMAXC contests. The Griffins welcome Western State Colorado to town on January 29 before facing Colorado State-Pueblo on January 30. Both games will tip at 7:30 p.m. MT with tickets available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.