Salt Lake City, UT-- Westminster shot the lights out in the first half and beat Montana Tech 83-49 in Salt Lake City.

The Griffins got it going early scoring the first 10 points of the contest.

A Travis Peevey three and Marcus Payne dunk stopped the bleeding for Montana Tech and got the Diggers on the board.

Westminster led 36-10 with 8:02 left to play in the half.

The Griffins hit 15 of their first 18 shots in the contest including three three-pointers against the Diggers.

Two Bryan Bock free throws at the 5:08 mark stopped a 20 point run midway through the first half.

A pair of Payne baskets before the intermission cut the Westminster lead to 45-20. At the half Montana Tech trailed Westminster 49-25.

A strong drive to the bucket and a three point play by Peevey early in the second half started the scoring for Montana Tech.

Back to back threes by the Griffins added to the Westminster advantage.

Brandon Rydberg got it going on both ends taking a charge on defense then knocking down a jumper the next time down the floor on offense to notch the score at 64-34 with 14 minutes left on the docket.

Montana Tech was outscored 34-24 in the second half against Westminster.

The Orediggers struggled to put the ball in the basket shooting at only a 30 percent clip. Westminster shot 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three point territory.

Rydberg led the Tech offense with nine points, while Peevey and Adam Greger both chipped in eight. Bock had seven points, four rebounds, and four assists for the Diggers.

Four Griffins scored in the double digits and were led in scoring by Jordan Pryor who had 15.

Montana Tech falls to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in the Frontier Conference while Westminster improves to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in conference.

The Diggers play at home this Thursday against Rocky Mountain College. That game is set to tip off at 7:30 pm M.S.T.