Griffins On Thanksgiving

SALT LAKE CITY – One night after losing at home for the second time this season, the Westminster men’s basketball team responded with a convincing 84-51 win against Westmont. No. 9 Westminster (4-4) never trailed in the contest and limited Westmont (4-1) to just 35.4% shooting in the game.“We challenged our team to see how they bounce back,” head coach Tommy Connor said. “We wanted them to play well and they did that tonight.”Westminster scored the first four points of the game and eventually pushed the run to 16-6 over the first eight minutes. The Griffins then finished the half on a 16-4 run to turn a 22-12 lead into a 38-16 halftime advantage. Westminster held a 16-2 advantage in points in the paint during the opening 20 minutes and had six second chance points.“We really defended well tonight,” Connor commented. “We limited their easy shots, and then we made shots which has been our struggle this year. When you make shots everything else looks better.”Westminster finished the game with their most accurate shooting night of the season at 54.7%. This is only the second time this year they have topped 50% shooting. The Griffins were also on from the foul line making 21-of-23 attempts. They finished the game with a 38-18 advantage in the paint and turned 14 Westmont turnovers into 21 points. Westminster controlled the boards to the tune of a 39-22 advantage.Ben Walker led the Griffins with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The 23 points is a career high for the junior and matches a season high by any individual this season. Walker also controlled six rebounds and went 7-of-7 at the foul line. Blair Prowse finished with 15 points, all coming from his five makes from beyond the arc. Michael Stockton led the bench to a 28-12 advantage in bench scoring behind his 14 points. Stockton also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists. Weston Anderson scored 12 points and Jeramie Hopson grabbed a season high seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end.Dan Rasp led Westmont with 17 points and four rebounds. Blake bender added 12 points one night after scoring 36 against Carroll College. Bender also had a team high five assists.Westminster is back in action on Friday, December 4 when they host St. Tomas (Fla.) in the Behnken Field House for the first of back-to-back meetings. That game is slated for an 8:00 p.m. tipoff with the rematch on Saturday, December 5 at 6:00 p.m.