SALT LAKE CITY - Westminster men's basketball (5-5, 3-1 RMAC) will host its final RMAC contest before a one-week holiday break on Thursday night against CSU Pueblo (4-5, 1-2 RMAC) tipping off at 7 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.

Game Info:
- Thursday's games will be hosted at the Behnken Field House on the campus of Westminster College. General admission into all games is $8.
-  Tickets for all home basketball games can be purchased at westminstergriffins.com/tickets.
-  All Westminster basketball games are available for FREE streaming on the RMAC Network.  Viewers can watch live or on-demand online at rmacnetwork.com/Westminster or on the RMAC Network app, available on all major app stores.
- Masks are required for all in attendance at the Behnken Field House.  Visit westminstergriffins.com for full Westminster College COVID-19 guidelines.

About the Griffins:
- Probable Starters:
    - G #2   Matt Kitzman:
        - CAREER: 48 games, 25 starts, 5.3 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 21 steals
    - G #11  Reme Torbert:
        - LAST WEEK: 14.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2 STEALS, 12-OF-20 FG (.600 PCT)
    - G #10 Donaval Avila:
        - LAST WEEK: 11.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 10-OF-21 FG (48 percent)
    - F #13 Brayden Johnson:
        - LAST FOUR GMS: 13.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 9 OFF REB, 22-of-34 FGs (.647)
    - F #5   Yusuf Mohamed:
        - LAST THREE: 20 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 19-of-31 FGs (.613), 19-of-23 FTs (.826)
- Westminster has won four of its last five after winning its first three games to begin the RMAC season.
- Westminster owns the second-best rebounding margin (+6.2) in the RMAC and are averaging +7.8 rebounds per game over its first four conference games.
- The Griffins have held teams to the fifth-fewest points per game (69.5) in the RMAC so far this season and have held their first four conference opponents to 42 percent shooting and just 63.8 ppg.
- Yusuf Mohamed is tied for fifth in the RMAC at 17.3 PPG while he and teammate Donaval Avila rank second and 13th in the RMAC, respectively in FT's made.
- Westminster ranks No. 23 in the nation in free throw's made (151) and No. 35 in free throw's attempted (207).

Last Week Recap: 
- Westminster split its first two home conference games of the season last week with a 72-57 win over Chadron State on Friday night before falling 69-61 to Black Hills State on Saturday.
- The Griffins led by 16 at halftime and finished with a 44-24 edge in points in the paint in Friday's win over Chadron State.
- Both teams shot 44 percent from the field and combined for just 19 turnovers, but Black Hills State connected on 12 three's, twice as many as Westminster, to win, 69-69, on Saturday night.
- The Griffins' leading scorer, Yusuf Mohamed, put up 16 on 6-of-8 shooting against Chadron State before exiting the game with a lower body injury.  Mohamed did not suit up in Saturday's loss to Black Hills State.
- Reme Torbert had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Friday's win over Chadron State and averaged 14.5 PPG with six rebounds, three assists and two steals last week.
- Matt Kitzman pulled in 10 defensive rebounds on the weekend with one block and one steal and also dished out six assists on the offensive end.
- Lewis Johnson averaged 5.5 RPG with four offensive boards in the Griffins' two games last weekend.

About the Thunderwolves (4-5, 1-2 RMAC):
- Probable Starters:
    - 1 Malcolm Little - LAST 3 GMs: 8.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3 assists
    - 4 Micah Lamberth - SEASON: 8.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 14 steals
    - 10 Meekness Payne - SEASON: 12.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 19 assists
    - 11 Lian Ramiro - SEASON: 13.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 28 assists, 10 stls
    - 33 Elijah Moleon - SEASON: 13.2 PPG, 8.9 RPG 14 blks, 4 stls
- CSU Pueblo went 3-3 to begin the season and have since gone 1-2 to begin the 2021-22 RMAC season.
- The Thunderwolves rank second in the RMAC and No. 60 in the nation with just 11.7 turnovers per game.
- CSU Pueblo finished in last-place out of the 14 teams competing in 2020-21.  The Thunderwolves went 3-15 on the year with nine-straight losses to end the season.
- CSU Pueblo went winless on the road last season and are 0-2 away from home to begin this season.
- CSU Pueblo used to be conference tournament regulars but have not qualified for the postseason since finish third with a 17-5 record in the RMAC back in 2016-17.
- The Pack's leading scorer is Lian Ramiro (13.8 ppg) a second-year freshman guard while junior forward Elijah Moleon is second on the team at 13.2 ppg.
- Moleon is fourth in the RMAC with 14 blocks and Meekness Payne is also averaging double digits at 12.9 ppg.

CSU Pueblo Series History:
- Westminster is 6-4 all-time against the Thunderwolves including a pair of wins over CSU Pueblo last season.
- Westminster is 4-2 all-time against the Thunderwolves at the Behnken Field House and are averaging 79.8 PPG all-time against CSU Pueblo.
- The Griffins have won five of the last six matchups and won the last meeting 106-103 in overtime at the Behnken Field House this past February.
    The Last Time:
- In the last matchup, Westminster led by as many as 10 in the second half but CSU Pueblo got hot from behind the arc late to get back into the game and force overtime, finishing with 14 made three's as a team on the night.
- Brayden Johnson knocked down a go-ahead basket with 47 seconds to play and Joey Andrews capitalized on a Liki Makaui steal to put Westminster up by three with just 33 seconds to play in overtime.
- The Griffins iced the game at the free throw line despite one remaining late three from CSU Pueblo.
- Matt Kitzman led the Griffins with 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting overall while Joey Andrews added 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with 12 rebounds.
- Brayden Johnson added 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Reme Torbert and Taylor Miller each finished with 11 points.

Up Next for CSU Pueblo:
Next Five:
- Dec 18 (Sat) at Colorado Mesa - Grand Junction, Colo.
- Dec 31 (Fri) vs COLORADO CHRISTIAN - Pueblo, Colo.
- Jan 1 (Sat) vs MSU DENVER - Pueblo, Colo.
- Jan 4 (Tue) at Adams State - Alamosa, Colo.
- Jan 8 (Sat) vs South Dakota Mines - Pueblo, Colo.

RMAC Men's Basketball Standings (As of 12/14):
 

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL	STREAK
Black Hills State	4-0	6-3	W4
Regis	3-0	8-1	W8
Fort Lewis	3-1	7-3	W2
Westminster	3-1	5-5	L1
UCCS	2-1	7-2	L1
Colorado School of Mines	2-1	4-3	W2
Colorado Mesa	2-2	8-5	W1
Adams State	2-2	6-4	L1
MSU Denver	1-2	7-2	L1
CSU Pueblo	1-2	4-5	L1
Chadron State	1-3	5-7	L2
South Dakota Mines	1-3	3-7	W1
Western	1-3	2-8	W1
New Mexico Highlands	0-3	5-4	L3
Colorado Christian	0-3	3-6	L3

Up Next for Westminster:
Westminster will have one week's break from its RMAC schedule next week before taking on BYU in an exhibition on Wednesday, Dec. 29, in Provo, Utah.  The Griffins will then travel to play at N.M. Highlands on Fri., Dec. 31, and at UC-Colorado Springs on Sat., Jan. 1.

Follow us on social media (@WCGriffins) or visit westminstergriffins.com for all the latest Westminster Athletics scores, news and updates.

(Full Notes PDF Here)