Frontier Conference tournaments come to Westminster

Both Westminster basketball teams will get to enjoy a rare privilege when the Frontier Conference holds its men's and women's basketball tournaments starting this week. They will get to play every tournament game at Behnken Fieldhouse.

The Griffins finished conference play with an unbeaten record after claiming an 81-66 victory over 23rd ranked Lewis-Clark State on Saturday night.

16th ranked Westminster (24-5, 14-0) had already clinched the regular season conference title before beating the Warriors. But that victory assured them of being the first undefeated team in conference play since the 2006-07 season.

Westminster completed the title sweep when the men's team handed Lewis-Clark State a 72-68 loss on Saturday night.

Geoff Payne led the eighth ranked Griffins with 26 points and 11 rebounds -- notching his sixth double-double of the year. Danny Stosich added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Westminster. For the Griffins, it marks their sixth regular season conference title under coach Tommy Connor.

The Frontier Conference switched formats for its postseason tournaments starting this season. Instead of staging all the games at a neutral site, higher seeded teams will host each game at their home gym.

What it means for Westminster is that both its men's and women's teams will play at home for as long as they remain in the tournament.

"We do have an advantage to be home in our own beds with our own crowd and have the support here," senior point guard Shannon Evans said. "We're really excited about it. It's definitely going to be the sugar on top of all of this."

Westminster will open the men's tournament against Montana Tech on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Lady Griffins open their tournament a day earlier against Great Falls, with a tip time also set for 7 p.m.

RED STORM RISING: Even after a recent three-game slide in Hawaii, Dixie State still has a good chance to finish second in the Pac West Conference when they host Grand Canyon this Thursday and Friday at Burns Arena to close out the regular season.

The Red Storm put themselves in position to finish behind conference leader BYU-Hawaii after defeating Notre Dame de Namur twice last week -- 74-58 on Friday and 70-59 on Saturday.

Only the first game counted in the conference standings and the Red Storm wasted no time taking control, building up a 64-43 lead at one point in the second half. Nick Howard scored 17 points and Bowie Jeffs added 16 to lead Dixie State in the victory.

Red Storm coach Jon Judkins hopes his team can sustain enough momentum to finish strong in their first official year of Pac West play.

"Here's where teams really make their jump," Judkins said. "You have to play the best basketball you can play right now."