SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team got 23 points and 11 rebounds from Dayon Goodman as they defeated Western State Colorado 82-61 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener on Friday night in the Behnken Field House.
 
Westminster (1-2, 1-0 RMAC) shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the floor and scored 30 points in the paint in the win. They hit a blistering 60.7 percent in the first half to lead them to a 43-30 lead at intermission.
 
"Our guys did a really good job tonight not letting their guard down with that big lead," Westminster head coach Norm Parrish said. "We were able to take advantage of our size advantage tonight and maintain that lead in the second half."
 
Goodman scored 12 of his 23 points in the opening 12 minutes of the game. He made 9 of 11 shots on the night and added three assists and one blocked shot.
 
With the game tied at 14-14 at the 11:06 mark of the first half, Westminster went on a 10-0 run to take a lead they never gave back. Jarred Laws hit a three with 5:39 left in the half that capped a 21-6 spurt and had the Griffins leading 32-18.
 
Western State (2-4, 1-1) got within nine early in the first half, but the Griffins put the game out of reach with a 20-6 run that they made 8 of 11 shots and held the Mountaineers to only one basket on nine shots.
 
The Griffins distributed 19 assists on 29 made baskets and committed just 11 turnovers. They had a 38-34 edge on the boards. Western State shot just 28.6 percent from the floor, the lowest percentage by a Griffin opponent since November of last season. The Mountaineers made just 5 of 19 from beyond the arc and had 13 turnovers.
 
"I thought we played really hard at the defensive end," Parrish added. "That allowed us to make for any mistakes we were making."
 
Sam Orchard added 12 points off the bench for the Griffins. He also handed out four assists and had two rebounds. Laws finished with 11 points and was 3 of 5 from deep. Zerrion Payton led the team with five assists and two steals. Marcus Bryce recorded three blocked shots.
 
Western State had seven players score at least six points with Collin Smith leading the team with nine points off the bench.
 
Westminster is back in the Behnken Field House on Saturday when they host Colorado Mesa at 7:30 p.m. MST in the final home game of the 2016 calendar year. Tickets for the game are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.