SALT LAKE CITY – Hoping for a strong start to their season ending three-game road swing, the Cougars couldn't put together a winning effort.

Westminster pulled away in the second half for a 71-54 victory against the Cougars on Friday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The home team opened up a 21-6 edge just before the halfway point of the first stanza. However, Colorado Christian responded by scoring 18 of the next 28 points – capped off by a Stefan Hackethal three-pointer – to close their halftime deficit to 31-24.

Unfortunately the Cougars couldn't keep the momentum in their favor coming out of the locker room. Westminster nailed five of their first eight attempts from the floor to help them increase their lead to 42-28. The Griffins continued to hold their double figure lead until the final buzzer.

Westminster was solid from the floor in the second half as they pulled away. They hit 18 of their 32 attempts (56.3 percent). Colorado Christian had a hard time find their stroke from behind the arc as they hit seven of their 32 attempts from deep (21.9 percent).

COUGAR LEADERS: A pair of Cougars found themselves in double figures as Justin Engesser, who played all 40 minutes, and Hackethal scored 20 and 14 points respectively. Engesser and Luke Martin each corralled a team best six rebounds.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

- Westminster held a 36-16 edge for points in the paint
- Colorado Christian nailed all nine of their shots from the foul line
- Jacob McCord scored a team best 21 points off the bench in 24 minutes

UP NEXT: The Cougars complete their two-game swing through the Beehive State with a 7:30 p.m. Saturday game against Dixie State in St. George.