Box Score SALT LAKE CITY—Isaiah Banks scored 21 points as the Westminster men's basketball team defeated the Colorado Christian Cougars, 79-71, to start the season 2-0.
 
The Cougars didn't make it easy, leading by as much as five and keeping the Griffins to single-digit leads. CCU made 16 of their 40 three-point attempts, nearly double, what Westminster took.
 
The Griffins did the dirty work and won the battle underneath the basket, outscoring CCU 28-14 and out rebounding them 20-26.
 
The first half ended with Westminster trailing by one-point, 41-42, after nine lead changes through the period. The Griffins were 15-32 from the field, 5-13 from three and 6-6 from the stripe with nine assists, 18 rebounds and only three turnovers. CCU was 11-22 from beyond the arc, 78.5% of their point production.
 
Westminster started the second half making an 11-2 run for an 8-point lead, only to see the Cougars go on a 15-5 run to get back into the game. The lead changed four more times over a couple of minutes in the middle of the half before a Brandon Willardson layup gave the Griffins their final lead with eight minutes left.
 
Banks shot 7-13 from the field, 2-4 from beyond the arc and 3-4 from the stripe to lead the team in points. He also led the team with fiv3e assists and grabbed four rebounds.
 
Reme Torbert and Jarrett Jordan also reached double-digit scoring figures. Torbert put up 17 points making 6-9 from the field and 5-8 from three. Jordan was 5-8 from the field and 2-4 from three for 12 points.
 
Joey Andrews led the effort underneath the basket with 12 rebounds. Taylor Miller was second on the team with eight and Willardson grabbed five.
 
The Griffins are on the road for three games next week and one the following weekend. The first of three is an exhibition against Weber State, on Tuesday, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. They finish at Chadron State on Friday and Black Hills State on Saturday. Before the holiday break, they travel to Pueblo, Colo., to face CSU-Pueblo. Game times and links to watch, listen and follow the games are available on the men's schedule, www.westminstergriffins.com/mbbsched.