CHADRON, Neb. - Westminster men's basketball (6-8, 4-4 RMAC) connected on five first-half three pointers and led by 21 at halftime in a 73-67 win over Chadron State (6-10, 2-6 RMAC) on Saturday night at the Chicoine Events Center.
The win snaps a four-game losing skid of the Griffins and was their third road win in the RMAC this season.
Westminster averaged just 5.3 3PT field goals per game going into the night but knocked down five three's as a team in the first half alone on Saturday. The Griffins held Chadron State without a single field goal over a six-minute stretch to craft an 18-point lead and finished the first half on an 11-3 run to lead, 43-22, at the intermission.
Westminster went 16-of-32 (50 percent) from the floor in the opening half with 13 assists as a team and a 20-13 rebounding advantage. The Griffins hit two of their first four shots out of the break but went 0-of-4 from three and 4-of-14 overall over a ten-minute stretch in which the Eagles cut the Westminster lead down to seven at 59-52 with five and a half minutes to play.
The Griffins went 6-of-9 at the free throw line over the final five minutes and
Matt Kitzman, who finished with a team-leading 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, knocked down a late three to push the Griffins lead to nine with just over two minutes to play as Westminster held off six second-half three's from the Eagles to win, 73-67.
Reme Torbert finished with 12 points while
Brayden Johnson added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Yusuf Mohamed returned to the Westminster starting line-up and finished the night with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and seven boards.
Westminster, which is 2-0 this season over the Eagles, is now 9-2 all-time and has won eight of the last nine games all-time against Chadron State after Saturday's win.
The Griffins will return home where they will host Colorado Christian and MSU Denver next Friday and Saturday night. Next weekend's games will be hosted with no fans in attendance but will still be availabe to view for free at rmacnetwork.com/Westminster or on the RMAC Network streaming app.
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