Salt Lake City, UT - For the first time in the Men's Basketball RMAC history since rejoining the conference they are playing in the RMAC Tournament. After finishing the conference season with a record of 12-10 and losing only one of those games on their home floor. This season Salt Lake City was a tough place to play for visiting RMAC teams and some teams were shocked when they took on the Westminster Griffins team after the final buzzer sounded. 

"We overall played very well at home and even when we didn't, we seemed to usually find a way to win," Head Coach Norman Parrish said. "We are excited to get to the tournament. It's the goal of every team because it gives you the chance to move on and keep playing. Our players were very resilient in this journey." 

The journey will begin Tuesday night in South Dakota with a first-round matchup with Black Hills State University (S.D.) as tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM MDT on the RMAC Network. The last time these two teams played the Griffins led after 20 minutes of action, but the Yellowjackets found a way to fight back and defeat Westminster 66-57. 

"Black Hills State has been the cream of the crop in our league the last 2 years. Playing them is a huge task. We played very well at times earlier this year when we played them," said Parrish of the last meeting between the two schools. "Unfortunately, we didn't put together a complete game. For us to have a chance we need to play very well for a complete 40 minutes."

Not only have the Yellowjackets been of the best teams in the conference over the years, but they've also always had talented players, and one player this year is Joel Scott.

"They have an unbelievable roster that includes one of the best players in the country in Joel Scott, " said Parrish. "They present a huge challenge in defending them."

Westminster's staff and players know they are ready for this moment in the program's history on Tuesday night and they have worked hard to get to the RMAC Tournament. As they played one of the toughest preseason schedules they've had and have been in a lot of close games this year that could have gone either way, but at the end of the day the Griffins are in the RMAC Tournament and Norman Parrish is proud of what they've accomplished so far this season. 

"Props to our guys cause some teams to lose belief and fold after a tough preseason. People don't know the obstacles that were placed in front of us as a team and staff and for our group to show a ton of resilience and perseverance makes me very proud. Our players have truly accomplished something difficult."



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Black Hills State claimed the tournament's three seed after finishing the regular-season play with an 18-4 record in conference games and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Colorado School of Mines with a pair of victories over the Orediggers this season. The Yellow Jackets rely on a stingy defense that holds opposing teams to a 39.9-percent field-goal average on the year while pulling down 31.2 defensive rebounds per game.

The Griffins stand 30th in the nation with a powerful 48.1-percent field goal average, good enough for an average of 74.4 points per game. Westminster also beats down opponents on the glass and holds a 4.5 rebounding margin while averaging 35.8 boards per contest.