GUNNISON – Western State Colorado University men's basketball team came up short in the paint game Friday evening, as Westminster College defeated Western 84-66 in Paul Wright Gymnasium.
 
The combination of high shooting by Westminster and first half offensive boards built a lead that Western could not overcome. The Griffins had 23 first half boards, while the Mountaineers had just six. A strong second half allowed Western to have 22 boards in all, nine of which came on the offensive end. Both teams scored what the other had been averaging in opponent points per game.
 
Collin Smith came out firing for Western, hitting his first three of four treys. The forward had 11 points in the first five minutes, but was silenced the second part of the first half. Smith finished with a game-high 19 points, shooting five of 10 from beyond the arc.
 
Also in double-digits for Western was Brady Subart with a dozen, and Monroe Porter and Ben Beauchamp with 11 apiece. Beauchamp was blanketed most of the game, attempting just three shots in the first half. Porter also led the team in boards with seven.
 
For the Griffins, Casey Evans did damage all around, shooting six of eight from the field for a team-high 17 points. Westminster had six athletes with four or more boards, while Western had half as many. The Griffins also had four blocked shots as they dominated the paint, outscoring the Mountaineers 30 to 12 down low.
 
With the off-game, Beauchamp drops down to fourth in the race for the conference scoring leader. He is .1 points per game from a three-way tie for second, and .4 points per game from the leader.