SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS: Westminster College is an NAIA school located in Salt Lake City, Utah. As an NAIA member, the Griffins had a head start in their practice and competition schedules over NCAA members and already have seven games under their collective belts. First–year Head Coach Adam Hiatt won his first six games before falling to Concordia–Irvine Saturday in Las Vegas. The Griffins earned a victory over an NCAA Division II opponent when they beat Dixie State 84–82 on Nov. 1. Jake Orchard leads three Griffins averaging double figures at 18.1 points per game. Ben Wlaker adds 13.9 ppg and a team–high 5.3 rebounds per game.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters and Griffins have met just once, with CSUMB taking a 78–63 decision in The Kelp Bed on Dec. 18, 2001. Dexter Amey led the way for CSUMB with a 30–point, 10–rebound double–double. Rocky Steryo added 16 points and Craig Rice chipped in six assists. Jason Overbay came off the bench to lead Westminster with 20 points.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Otters went toe–to–toe with Big West Conference member Pacific in their 2011–12 season opener, but a torrid eight–minute stretch by the Tigers late in the first half proved too much to overcome in a 75–63 loss. Kevin Loustale (Chico HS/Shasta College) made his CSUMB debut a memorable one, coming off the bench to score 13 points and grab nine rebounds in 20 minutes.

FOR OPENERS: Following Sunday's loss, the Otters are 6–8 in season openers dating back to the 1998–99 season, where the CSUMB record book begins. Since moving to NCAA play, the Otters are 4–4 in openers, including a 2–3 mark in road openers.

FOR HOME OPENERS: The Otters are 6–7 in home openers dating back to the 1998–99 season. They are 3–4 since moving to the NCAA Division II level in the 2004–05 season.

DO–OVERS: If only there were do–overs in college basketball, the Otters would have picked up a nice win Sunday at Pacific. The Tigers out–scored the Otters 47–26 over the first 19:34 Sunday evening. Over the final 20:26, however, the Otters won the scoring battle, 37–28.

HOME SWEET HOME? While the game didn't count on their official record the Otters exhibition loss to Holy Names Nov. 5 was their fifth consecutive setback in the Kelp Bed. CSUMB hasn't won in Seaside since an 82–80 victory over Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 29, 2011. Oddly, the Otters earned twice as many road wins (6) as home wins (3) during the 2010–11 season.

WELCOME ABOARD: The Otters welcome nine players to roster this season, including freshman Ben Vincent (Salida/Modesto Christian), Courtland Wharton (San Bernardino/Aquinas HS), Jalen Headspeth (Oakland HS) and Josh Jackson (Carlsbad/Lee HS). Transfer players include Greg Jeffery (Oakland/College of Alameda), Oliver Caballero (Salinas/San Jose State), Geoff McIntosh (Gig Harbor, Wash./Northern Oklahoma) and Jaron Devine (Pomona/Irvine Valley College).

WELCOME BACK: While 60 percent of the 2011–12 roster is new, the Otters return a significant amount of experience as well, including two players who started all 26 games in 2010–11. Juniors Derrick Anderson (Pittsburg HS) and Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) are the two returning starters. The other returners are juniors J.J. Campbell (Riverside/King HS), James Albert (San Bernardino/Aquinas HS) and sophomores Troy Watkins (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) and James Thomas (Castro Valley/Bishop O'Dowd).

COMING AND GOING: The Otters face a challenging schedule from a travel standpoint in 2011–12. The Otters open by playing six of the first eight regular season games at home. But then they hit the road for nine of their next 11 before starting a five–game homestand in mid February. In fact, after hosting Cal State Dominguez Hills on Dec. 19, the Otters will not take the Kelp Bed floor for a full month until they host Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 20.

START ME UP: By starting Sunday's season opener at Pacific, Brandon Ward inched closer to the next rung on the CSUMB career starts top 10 list. Ward made his 45th Otter start Sunday, moving him to within one start of ninth place. (Jose Sanchez made 46 starts from 2007–09). Should Ward start all 26 regular season games in 2011–12, he would end the season with 70 career starts, No. 3 on the all–time list and just six off the record held by current assistant coach Joe Mitchell.

THE WARD GIVETH… Brandon Ward led both teams with five assists Sunday at Pacific. Ward now has 131 career assists, good for No. 7 on the CSUMB career list. Next up is Stephen Becker (2005–09) with 147. DShon Cannon owns the Otter record with 371.

…AND THE WARD TAKETH AWAY: He didn't collect any steals in the season opener, but Brandon Ward still enters Thursday's game ranked No. 13 on the Otter career steals list with 48. Next up on the list is Khi–Min Jung (2006) with 50. Joe Mitchell hold the Otter record with 91 steals.

NOW THAT'S SMARTS: The Otter men's basketball team boasted three players who earned CCAA All–Academic honors for their classroom work in 2010–11. The Otter triumvirate of James Albert, Brenden Fripp (Santa Barbara/Palo Verde HS) and Brandon Ward made CSUMB the only school to place three men's basketball players on the list. In case you were wondering, Albert posted a 3.65 grade point average as a business administration major. Ward posted a 3.90 GPA as a business administration major.