GUNNISON, Colo. – The Westminster men's basketball team continued to pick up road wins as they won at Western State Colorado, 84-66, on Friday night to extend their winning streak to seven straight games.
 
Westminster (12-6, 12-4 RMAC) maintains its hold on fourth-place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with the win and sit just two games behind the conference leader. They have now won seven straight games for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
 
Western State (5-16, 4-13 RMAC) started quickly as the raced out to a 9-2 advantage just over two minutes into the action. The Griffins trailed 14-8 with 15:04 on the first half clock when they started to get things rolling. They went on a 20-7 run over a seven-minute time span that featured a pair of threes from Jarred Laws and gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished.
 
"They came out fast and got us at the start," Westminster assistant coach Landon Cosby said after the game. "We responded defensively and were able to lead for most of the night."
 
Bryce Callahan hit a three in the final minute of the first half that put the Griffins in front 43-33 at halftime. The team would then score the first six points of the second half and the lead remained in double figures the rest of the night.
 
Casey Evans finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting. He scored 13 of those during in the second half to help the team maintain its lead. Evans added four rebounds and two assists in the win.
 
Westminster shot a season-high 60.4 percent from the field with 30 points in the paint and 8 of 16 from beyond the arc. They had a 38-22 edge on the glass as they held Western State to 33.3 percent shooting. In two games against the Mountaineers this season, the Griffins held them to two of their three worst shooting nights of the season.
 
"We took advantage of our size inside to get some points in the paint," Cosby added. "That helped us shoot 60 percent. At the other end, we really locked them down and limited their chances."
 
Marcus Bryce added 12 points, five rebounds, and three blocked shots for the Griffins. Mason Smith had 10 points off the bench to lead a 34-11 advantage in bench scoring. Zerrion Payton finished with nine points, five rebounds, and three assists.
 
The Griffins had 18 assists on 32 baskets with 17 turnovers. They were perfect in 12 attempts at the foul line and they scored 13 points from 13 Western State turnovers.
 
Collin Smith made five threes and led the Mountaineers with 19 points. The Griffins held Ben Beauchamp – the RMAC's leading scorer – to just 11 points with six coming in the final 4:08 of the contest.
 
Westminster will look to extend its winning ways on Saturday when they face Colorado Mesa in the team's final road game of the season. The action from Grand Junction, Colo. Will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the RMAC Network.