ALAMOSA, Colo. (December 16, 2016) – Westminster College (Utah) entered Plachy Hall Gym with the RMAC's top defense but made their biggest impression on offense during an 83-74 victory over Adams State University on Friday afternoon.

The Griffins (4-3, 4-1 RMAC) shot a blistering 10-of-12 from three-point territory in the opening stanza to positioned the Grizzlies in an unfavorable spot of playing from behind for the duration of the contest.

The sharp three-point shooting gave the Griffins an early advantage as Casey Evans, Jarred Laws, and Travis Devashrayee combined to shoot 10-of-11 from downtown in the opening stanza. Zerrion Payton accounted for the other missed three in the half for the Griffins.

The aforementioned shooting made the afternoon a tall task for Adams State. Jarrett Givens led the Grizzlies with 9 first half points but Adams State went into halftime trailing 47-32.

The Griffins cooled off after halftime but then relied on their tough defense to keep Adams State in the rear view mirror.  

A pair of Zerrion Payton free throws early in the second half gave Westminster a 53-32 advantage but Adams State fought back to reach within 9 points after a Shane Johnson three-pointer with 6:44 remaining in regulation. The comeback effort was unable to come to fruition as Westminster responded on offense to maintain their lead. A Johnson layup with 26 seconds remaining cut the Griffin lead to 9 again but the Grizzlies ran out of time to even the score.

Givens led Adams State with 18 points and 7 rebounds with Johnson adding 17 points. Bryan Umoru was the third ASU player to finish in double figures with 12 points along with 4 steals. Szymon Walczak paced the ASU bench with 9 points in 11 minutes of action.

The Griffins shot 50 percent (29-58) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-23) from three-point range. The biggest storyline for Westminster was their first half performance as the Griffins shot 10-of-12 (83.3%) from three which paved the way for the rest of the game. Five Griffins reached double figures led by 17 points from Payton.

Adams State now turns to a four-game road trip beginning with a Dec. 30^th meeting at Colorado Christian University at 7pm.

For any future updates on ASU men's basketball stay connected with www.asugrizzlies.com