SALT LAKE CITY - Yusuf Mohamed had a second-straight 20-point night with a game-high 20 points while
Taylor Miller added 14 off of the bench to help Westminster men's basketball (2-4) beat Western Oregon (1-5), 70-62, on Saturday night at the Behnken Field House.
Mohamed added 13 boards for his second double-double of the season while Miller also had a team-high five assists and finished with a +17 plus/minus coming off of the Griffins' bench.
Donaval Avila scored 11 to go along with six rebounds and also finished in a tie for the team lead at +17 in the plus/minus column.
Despite going 0-of-7 on first-half three-pointers, Westminster went into the break with a 12-point lead after holding the Wolves scoreless over the final 2:34 of the first frame. Westminster finished with a slim 38-37 rebounding margin but dominated scoring inside and finished with a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint.
Westminster scored three of the first four buckets out of the break to push its lead to a then-game-high 15 points just three minutes into the second. Western Oregon trimmed the lead back down to single digits but Westminster was able to hold onto its lead with help at the free throw line where it finished 22-of-30 (73 percent) as a team for the night.
The Griffins' lead reached a game-high 16 off of a made three from Mohamed at the 5:49 mark before four quick three's from the Wolves cut the lead back down to six points with just over four minutes to play. Both teams picked up the pressure defensively before Miller finally answered with a Westminster three-pointer that pushed the lead back up to nine points with 1:32 to play.
Westminster avoided any more turnovers and iced the game with late free throws for its first home win of the 2021-22 season.
Westminster will now head into the conference season beginning next week as it travels to play at MSU Denver and Colorado Christian on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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