SALT LAKE CITY – Playing at home for the first time in over a month, the Westminster men's basketball team secured an 81-69 win over Colorado Christian on Friday night in the Behnken Field House.
 
Westminster (5-5*, 5-3 RMAC) held the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's third-highest scoring team 15 points below their average in the win. The Griffins limited Colorado Christian (10-5, 4-2 RMAC) to 42.1 percent shooting and just 7 of 24 from beyond the arc.
 
After the visitors scored nine straight points to open a 15-12 lead midway through the first half, the Griffins countered with a 17-4 run over four minutes that put them in front 29-19 with 6:39 to play in the first half. The Griffins closed that run with 12 straight points to retake a lead they never gave back.
 
That lead was cut to four later in the first half before the Griffins used an 11-3 burst to take a 42-34 halftime advantage. CCU was able to trim that deficit back to within six on a pair of occasions in the second half before the Griffins quickly pushed it back to double digits each time.
 
Westminster finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field after going 15 of 26 in the second half. They assisted on 18 of 31 field goals with only 10 turnovers. The Griffins won the boards 37-32 and blocked five shots.
 
Four Griffins scored in double figures with Zerrion Payton leading the team with 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He also added seven rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers to his line. Dayon Goodman added 17 points and eight rebounds while Marcus Bryce went for 15 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
 
The Griffins bench provided 23 points including a career-high 12 from Tanner Newbold. He scored the first nine points of the team's 12-0 first-half run. Travis Devashrayee added eight points and hit a pair of threes.
 
CCU also had four players score in double figures. Brett Brady led the team with 22 points and three makes from deep.
 
Westminster is back in action on Saturday when they host Colorado School of Mines at 7:30 p.m. MST. Tickets for the team's second game in eight days are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.
 
(*) NCAA non-countable game rules prohibit men's basketball victories vs. California Miramar and Bristol to be counted in season record.