Westminster off to record-breaking start

Westminster could not have asked for a better prelude to Frontier Conference play than what it has enjoyed so far this season.

The fifth-ranked Griffins have rewritten school record books with a 16-1 start and a first-ever top-five ranking in the NAIA national poll.

But, as Westminster learned the hard way at the end of last season, a good start means little without a good finish.

After failing to secure an NAIA tournament bid for the first time in eight years, the Griffins are determined to be masters of their own fate in the Frontier Conference this time around.

"We're not going to leave it up to others," senior forward Geoff Payne said. "We're going to keep it in our hands."

Westminster took a good step forward in their quest for supremacy over the weekend. The Griffins beat Montana State-Northern 74-58 on Friday and routed Great Falls 80-52 to stake out a 2-0 record in Frontier Conference play.

Geoff Payne dominated the paint against MSU-Northern, scoring 31 points and 13 rebounds to help Westminster break open a game that was tied 32-32 at halftime.

Nate Sanchez, who scored 14 points against the Lights, paced the Griffins with 16 points during their dismantling of the Argonauts a night later.

Both victories boosted Westminster to an impressive 12-1 mark away from Behnken Fieldhouse this season. Senior guard Jordan Jacobs said the team's tough preseason schedule should pay huge dividends down the road.

"We've only had four home games and we've had four games in one week on the road," Jacobs said. "It's been one of the toughest I've played. It's good. It prepares us for our league, and it prepares us for our conference tournament."

A strong start can also slip away in a heartbeat as it did a year ago.

At that time, the Griffins went 10-2 in the preseason and were 16-3 midway through conference play. But Westminster went 4-4 in its final eight games and was denied an at-large NAIA bid after falling to Rocky Mountain — a team it swept during the regular season — in the first round of the Frontier Conference Tournament.

Piling up victories over upper-echelon NCAA D-II and NAIA D-I squads will mean little if it does not include a trip to the postseason this time around.