Salt Lake City -- As the Thanksgiving weekend came to a close, the Westminster Griffins men's basketball team (4-0) was down three points with 1:42 left to play in regulation to the Falcons of Seattle Pacific (4-2.) A three pointer from
Dayon Goodman, 1:42 left in the game, tied the game at 77-77 and provided the platform for the Griffin's 85-77 victory.
The first half was a tug-a-war and neither team could pull away from the other. The score was tied nine times and the lead changed 14 times. The largest lead of the half was four points, held by the Griffins.
The second half had fewer changeswith Seattle leading for 14 minutes of the second half and Westminster was only able to take the lead for small moments until the end. Two free throws from Goodman began a Westminster comeback with 2:49 remaining. Goodman, Quincy Bair and
Tanner Newbold combined to score the final 11 points of the game to defeat the Falcons 83-77.
Goodman had an excellent first half scoring 23 points-hitting 17 of 30 field goal, three 3-pointers, and shooting perfect from the free throw line on seven attempts. He added 16 points in the second half to set a new career and single game high of 39 points. He collected eight rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.
Bair had a good night shooting 8 of 11 field goals and shooting perfect from the free throw line on three attempts to add 19 to the scoreboard. Bair had two assists, one block and seven rebounds.
Mason Smith had seven points and two assists,
Scott Cook scored six, Eric Winder and
Tanner Newbold each had four and
Sam Orchard and
Jarred Laws each contributed two. Newbold had seven assists and Orchard had four.
The griffins pulled down 33 rebounds. Orchard and Laws each collected four, Smith and Newbold each had three and Cook had one.
The team shot 51.6% from the field, 41.7% from beyond the arc and 92.3% from the free throw line. The Griffins outscored Seattle 46 to 34 in the paint.
The Griffins start another Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season next week, traveling to Colorado Mesa on Thursday Nov. 30 and then to Western State on Saturday Dec. 2.
