COLORADO MINES MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #13
at Chadron State, 2/20/03 - Chadron, Neb., 8:00 pm
at Metro State, 2/22/03 - Denver, Colo., 7:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
10 Kevin Wagstaff G 9.0 2.6 3.8 .409
11 Stephen Bahl G 23.0 1.2 2.0 .484
20 Matt Luedtke G 14.7 5.0 2.9 .428
44 Farris Broussard F 5.4 6.1 1.8 .671
55 Mike McNish C 11.6 6.6 1.5 .654

OFF THE BENCH
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
3 Cole Henderson G/F 0.6 0.5 0.7 .667
5 Chad Friehauf G 4.0 3.1 1.4 .302
23 Ross Rhinehart G 3.1 0.8 1.0 .463
30 Justin Buckmaster F 5.3 3.7 1.0 .558
31 Bill Hadley G 0.0 0.3 0.0 .000
52 Ryan Woodson C 6.6 4.6 1.1 .500

THE HEAD COACH
Pryor Orser is in his second season at the helm of the Oredigger men’s basketball program. He claims a 21-28 overall mark and a 13-21 record in the RMAC during his time in Golden. Prior to coming to CSM, Orser served one year as the assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Montana in Missoula. Orser’s previous coaching experience also includes a four-year tenure at Northwest College in Wyo., where he worked as the head of the women’s basketball program and an assistant to the men’s basketball program, At Northwest, Orser led the women’s squad to the most wins in school history (22) during his fourth and final season, an improvement of 20 games from his first season on the sideline at Northwest.

LAST TIME OUT (2/15/03): The Nebraska-Kearney men’s basketball team barely kept its perfect season alive with a 72-70 win over Colorado Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action in front of a sold out, standing room only crowd in Volk Gymnasium Saturday night. Mines raced out to a quick 8-0 lead and extended its lead to 30-20 with 7:30 left on a three-pointer from senior forward Justin Buckmaster. A three-pointer with seven seconds to play in the first half by Mines sophomore guard Matt Luedtke gave CSM a 41-34 lead at the break. UNK opened the second half on a 15-6 run to take its first lead of the game, 49-47, with 14:10 to play. The Lopers extended their lead to 62-53 midway through the second half on a layup from Nick Branting. Trailing by six (66-60) with 5:56 to play, the Orediggers went on a 10-3 run to regain the lead with 1:18 to play at 70-69. A jumper by the Loper’s Richard Dionne on the next possession, a Mines turnover and Marty Levinson’s front end of a one and one gave UNK a 72-70 lead with 16 seconds left. Levinson missed the second attempt, but the Lopers retained possession as Mines knocked the ball out of bounds. CSM then fouled Chad Sheffield who missed the front end of the one and one which was rebounded by Mines junior forward Farris Broussard. UNK used its last foul to give with two seconds left and gave Mines the ball on the sideline. Freshman guard Kevin Wagstaff lofted a pass toward the basket, but Broussard was not able to tip it in as time expired. Luedtke led CSM as he registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, while sophomore guard Stephen Bahl added 16 points.

HE’S A BALLER: Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl has lived up to his name this season as the Broomfield, Colo., native is leading the RMAC and is seventh in the nation with 23.0 points per game. In addition, he has scored in double figures in all 23 games this season, including a career-high 43 points in a 77-69 victory over Augustana on Nov. 30. Bahl, the RMAC East Division Player of the Week on Dec. 17 and Jan. 29, has led the team in scoring in 15 games this season. He is shooting 48 percent from the field, 44 percent from three-point range and 84percent from the charity stripe. Bahl played a season-high 40 minutes in a loss to Metro on Feb. 8 and is averaging a team-high 31.5 minutes per game this year.

LEADER OF THE PACK: Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl is the only player in the RMAC that has topped the 500-point mark this season and his 528 points are 75 more than anyone else in the league. With his 40 points in the two games last weekend, Bahl now has 826 points in just under two seasons for CSM. Bahl has led the league in scoring the entire season.

IN THE REGION: In last week’s North Central Regional Rankings, Mines was the eighth ranked team. In addition, CSM earned its highest regional ranking earlier this season when it was tabbed fourth in the region for one week. The Orediggers were also rated 26th in the nation during the week of Jan. 28.

DIAPER DIGGERS: The Colorado Mines roster contains just two seniors, both of whom were walk-ons to the program in Mike McNish and Justin Buckmaster, and one junior in Farris Broussard. The other eight players are in either their first or second season with the program.

LONG STREAK: Colorado Mines won a school-record 11 games from Dec. 13-Jan. 23 before losing to Fort Hays to snap the streak on Jan. 31. CSM has now lost five of its last six games, however, four losses have been by a combined 12 points.

SWISH FOR MCNISH: Senior center Mike McNish has not missed much this season as he has connected on 102-of-157 shot attempts this season. His .650 field goal percentage is third in the RMAC. Over his four years at Mines, McNish is shooting better than 64 percent from the floor and is just 17 points shy of reaching 900 career points at CSM.

WHAT THE HAYS?: The difference in CSMs match-ups with Fort Hays this season was the three-pointer. In a 78-72 loss at Hays on Jan. 31, Mines made just 9-of-42 three-point attempts. In Friday nights 87-71 win in Golden, the Orediggers connected on 16-of-25 from beyond the arc. The 16 three-pointers were the third most for Mines this season, who made a season-high 19 trifectas against Western State (Dec. 12) and 18 three’s against Grandveiw (Nov. 26).

STAFF LEADER: Freshman point guard Kevin Wagstaff has been outstanding in leading the Oredigger offense this season. The Rampart High graduate is seventh in the RMAC with 3.9 assists per game and is also fourth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg). In Friday’s win over Fort Hays, Wagstaff tied his career high with 18 points as he made5-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point land. He came back with nine points and three assists in Saturday’s loss to second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney.

KEY FOR SUCCESS: Sophomore guard Matt Luedtke, a University of Montana transfer, has been an integral part to Mines’ success this season as he is second on the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and assists (2.9 apg) and third in rebounding (5.0 rpg). Over the weekend, Luedtke averaged 15.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game as CSM split with Fort Hays and Nebraska-Kearney. Against, UNK, Luedtke posted his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. Over the last four games, he is averaging 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest.

BRING OUT THE BROOMS: For the first time in the history of the program, Colorado Mines swept the RMAC Western Division by going a perfect 7-0 this season. Mines was one of only two teams in the conference to accomplish that feat this season. Nebraska-Kearney, which is ranked second in the country, was the other.

DYNAMIC DUO: Sophomore guards Stephen Bahl and Matt Luedtke have formed one of the deadliest duos in the RMAC this season. Combined, Bahl (23.0 ppg) and Luedtke (14.7 ppg) are the top team duo in terms of scoring (37.7 ppg). In addition, Bahl and Luedtke have combined for 151 three-pointers with Luedtke’s 76 hits second in the RMAC and Bahl’s 75 trifectas third in the league.

GRIDIRON TO THE HARDWOOD: Redshirt freshman guard Chad Friehauf has been a key performer for CSM since he concluded the 2002 football season as CSM’s quarterback. On the gridiron, he was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC honoree as he completed 173-of-280 passes for 2,197 yards and 21 touchdowns. On the court, Friehauf has played in all 23 games, including two starts, and is averaging 4.0 points 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

SEVEN-ELEVEN: Seven of the 11 players on the CSM roster are Colorado natives. Only Matt Luedtke (Montana), Farris Broussard (California), Ryan Woodson (Arkansas) and Justin Buckmaster (Oregon) hail from outside the state.

BRING THE WOOD: Sophomore forward Ryan Woodson, who missed the first five games of the season due to an injury, played one of his finest games of the season during the Orediggers 87-71 win over Fort Hays on Friday. The Rogers, Ark., native scored 12 points, grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and tied his career-high with three assists in 25 minutes of action.

CLOSE CALLS: One difference between this year’s squad and last year’s is their ability to pull out the close games. Last season, Mines was just 4-11 in games decided by 10 points or less, including 1-3 in overtime. This year, the Orediggers are 9-4 in games decided by 10 or less, 1-0 in overtime.

GOODBYE SENIORS: Mines senior center Mike McNish and senior forward Justin Buckmaster played in their final regular season home games Saturday night. Buckmaster played one of his finest games this season as he totaled a season-high 11 points and four boards in his first start at home this season. McNish scored six points and grabbed seven boards in his home finale.

BEST IN D 2: CSM’s 15 wins in the most ever by the team as a Division II program. The Oredigger’s previous high win total as a Division II program was 14 wins in its inaugural DII season (1995-96). In addition, Mines is within reach of the school record for victories in a season (21) set by the 1980-81 team.

BLOCK PARTY: Mines is the top-ranked team in the RMAC in blocked shots with 120 swats in 23 games for an average of 5.2 per game. Senior center Mike McNish leads the way as he is ranked second in the conference with 1.6 blocks per game. Junior forward Farris Broussard is third (1.5 bpg), senior forward Justin Buckmaster is tied for 12th (0.7 bpg) while sophomore guard Matt Luedtke ranks 14th in the conference with 0.6 blocked shots per game. In the win at Adams State on Jan. 17, Mines blocked a season high 13 shots, including four each by McNish and Broussard.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSM ended its 2002-03 home campaign with a 10-3 record with its three losses by a combined six points. Mines lost by one on a buzzer beater to Chadron State, three points to Metro State and two points to Nebraska-Kearney.

SCOUTING THIS WEEK’S COMPETITION:
Chadron State enters the week at 10-12 overall and 6-9 in the RMAC. Last week, the Eagles earned a split at home with a win over Regis (58-55) and a loss to Metro State (77-50). Mike Generette led the way with 20 points and 12 boards in the two games. For the season, Jeremy Wissing posts 14.5 points and 4.5 boards per game to lead the team. Elijah Collins tallies 12.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while Deon David is third in the RMAC in rebounding (8.2 rpg). Chadron is shooting 47 percent from the field and 66 percent from the free throw line. The Eagles average 73.7 points per game and give up 77.9 per contest.

Metro State comes into the week at 20-3 overall and 13-2 in the RMAC. The Roadrunners, ranked ninth in the nation and fourth in the North Central Region, defeated Regis, 100-65 at home and also earned a 77-50 win at Chadron State. Patrick Mutombo paced Metro with 42 points and 10 boards in the two games. He scored 30 against Regis. For the season, Mutombo and Luke Kendall are tied for third in the league in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Lester Strong is seventh in the RMAC in rebounding (7.3 rpg), while Clayton Smith leads the conference in assists (7.3 apg) and steals (3.0 spg). As a team, the Roadrunners shoot 50 percent from the field and 69 percent from the charity stripe. Metro registers 74.7 points per game and its defense is tops in the RMAC and second in Division II giving up just 56.3 points per night.

LAST TIME VS. CHADRON (2/7/03): Chadron State’s Jeremy Wissing hit a jumper at the buzzer to lift the Eagles to a 73-72 win over Colorado Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball action in Volk Gymnasium. CSM sophomore guard Matt Luedtke finished with a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers, five rebounds and four assists, while the Eagles were led by Wissing’s 16 points, three assists and three steals.

LAST TIME VS. METRO (2/8/03): Metro State raced out to a 33-17 lead at the half and hung on for a 63-60 victory over Colorado Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball action in a sold-out Volk Gymnasium. Mines was led by sophomore guard Matt Luedtke who scored 16 points and grabbed five boards, while Patrick Mutombo’s 19 point, five rebound effort paced the Roadrunners.