Following his team's 63-54 win Saturday night, Lewis-Clark State men's coach George Pfeifer was asked what style of basketball he prefers his teams play. He wasn't able to give a definitive answer; in fact, when he came up with an analogy, it involved baseball.

"I give this one to coach (Ed) Cheff -- I think every team has its own identify," Pfeifer said. "If you take a look at some of those baseball teams -- and I won't even come close to acting like I know as much as coach Cheff -- he's got some teams that have been hit-and-run. He's had some teams that have been pitch and home run.

"I think our forte right now is defense in the halfcourt and execution," Pfeifer said.

The victory over No. 25 Westminster was the 15th-ranked Warriors' eighth consecutive triumph, and improved their record to 15-4 overall and 3-0 in the Frontier Conference.

An Activity Center crowd of approximately 1,200 watched L-C play dynamic defense once again. In three conference games, the Warriors have given up 61, 58 and 54 points. They are now allowing 60.2 points per game -- one of the top five marks in the NAIA.

And it was defense that turned this grinding battle in L-C's favor. With eight minutes remaining, point guard Danny Allen took a charge from Westminster's Danny Reeder -- and the Warriors turned that into a Martin Brothers bucket. John Moore than swatted a 3-point try, and that led to two Chris Pitts free throws.

The Warriors led by 10 at that point. The Griffins got no closer than five behind the rest of the way.

Of the eight teams in the FC, these two probably know each other best. Last season, they shared the league championship, and the Warriors beat the Griffins 64-62 in the title game of the conference tournament.

Westminster cycled through a variety of defenses while L-C stuck primarily with man-to-man. And in the second half, the Warriors seemed to hit upon an effective offensive scheme. Pfeifer said it was assistant coach Tim Walker who suggested the change.

"He was the guy who, in the second half, said, 'We need to get into this offense and we need to do this,' " Pfeifer said. "And, boom, all of a sudden, we started getting the ball into places ... that we hadn't been getting the ball to."

Moore, a 6-foot-6 junior from Chicago, racked up 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Brothers added 14 points while Allen came up with 10.

So will the Warriors stick to their defensive ways all season? That remains to be seen. Plus, Pfeifer's LCSC teams have never had a typical style. In Pfeifer's first home game as Warrior coach in 1989, L-C scored 178 points.

"My point is, we've played the 14th-ranked, the 25-ranked and a very athletic Rocky (Mountain) team," Pfeifer said. "And I don't know if somebody scored 60 on us. We basically guarded all three teams pretty well."

WESTMINSTER (12-7, 2-1)

Booth 4-6 1-1 9, Mark 2-4 0-0 4, Cramer 1-5 0-0 2, Ruiz 9-14 0-0 20, Humphreys 4-9 0-0 10, Madsen 0-0 0-0 0, Holcombe 1-1 0-0 2, Reeder 1-2 2-2 4, Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Labka 0-0 0-0 0, Buroker 1-6 0-0 3. Totals 23-48 3-3 54.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (15-4, 3-0)

Moore 7-13 3-3 17, Idoko 0-2 2-4 2, Brothers 6-10 2-3 14, Allen 2-5 6-8 10, Ray 1-4 0-0 3, Thueson 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-2 2-2 2, Jaekel 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Pitts 2-5 5-8 9, Tikker 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 21-48 20-28 63.

Halftime score -- Lewis-Clark State 25, Westminster 25. Three-point goals -- Westminster 5-18 (Mark 0-1, Cramer 0-3, Ruiz 2-4, Humphreys 2-3, Reeder 0-1, Olson 0-1, Buroker 1-6), L-C 1-7 (Moore 0-1, Allen 0-1, Ray 1-3, Wilson 0-2). Rebounds -- Westminster 23 (Humphreys 8), L-C 33 (Moore 7). Assists -- Westminster 9 (Humphreys 3), L-C (Moore 5) 14. Total fouls -- Westminster 22, L-C 11. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Westminster bench. Att -- 1,200.