COLORADO MINES MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #4
vs. Western State, 12/13/02 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm
vs. UCCS, 12/14/02 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
10 Kevin Wagstaff G 8.3 2.2 4.8 .425
11 Stephen Bahl G 27.5 0.7 2.0 .479
20 Matt Luedtke G 17.0 4.2 1.7 .374
44 Farris Broussard F 4.2 6.5 3.8 .636
55 Mike McNish C 12.0 7.5 2.0 .659

OFF THE BENCH
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
3 Cole Henderson G/F 0.0 0.6 0.6 .000
5 Chad Friehauf G 5.8 4.0 1.7 .364
23 Ross Rhinehart G 1.8 0.7 1.2 .357
30 Justin Buckmaster F 5.5 4.3 1.7 .542
31 Bill Hadley G 0.0 1.0 0.0 .000
33 Tony Melum G/F 2.0 2.0 0.5 .143
52 Ryan Woodson C 2.0 3.0 1.0 .200

THE HEAD COACH
Pryor Orser is in his second season at the helm of the Oredigger men’s basketball program. He claims an 11-23 overall mark and a 3-16 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: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team slipped to 4-2 overall with a 76-57 loss at Northern Colorado in Butler-Hancock Hall on Thursday evening. The Orediggers claimed a 34-32 lead at haftime, but were outscored by the Bears (4-2) in the second half, 44-23. Mines, which came into the game shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range, made just 22-of-68 shots (32.4%) from the field and 6-of-27 (22.2%) from three-point range. Sophomore guard Matt Luedtke paced his squad with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl was the only other player from CSM to reach double-digits in scoring with 10 points, while freshman guard Kevin Wagstaff chipped in with eight points and four assists.

WANNA BE A BALLER: Some people dream big of being a baller, but in the case of CSM sophomore guard Stephen Bahl, he is a big-time baller. The reigning Co-RMAC Freshman of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick last season, Bahl has picked off right where he left off last season. Through six games, he is leading the RMAC in scoring at 27.5 points per game and is also second in the conference with 22 three-point field goals made (3.7 per game). Bahl is shooting 48 percent from the field (56-of-117) and 52 percent from the three-point arc (22-of-42). In addition, he has also sank 84 percent of his free throws this season (31-of-37).

IT’S RAINING THREE’S: Through the first six games of the season, Mines has attempted 182 three-point field goals. In addition, the team has connected on 68 of those attempts meaning CSM is hitting 37 percent of its shots from beyond the arc this season.

YOUNG GUNS: The Colorado Mines roster contains just two seniors, both of whom were walk-ons to the program, and one junior. The other seven players are in either their first or second season with the squad.

DROPPIN DIMES: Freshman point guard Kevin Wagstaff has been extremely productive with the ball in his hands this season. The Rampart High graduate claims 29 assists and ranks third in the RMAC with 4.8 assists per game. In addition, he has turned the ball over just 14 times this year for an assist to turnover ratio of 2.1.

ON TARGET: Senior center Mike McNish is shooting the basketball at a .659 clip this season. The Aurora, Colo., native has connected on 29-of-44 shots this season and is third on the team averaging 12.0 points per game. In addition, he is also the team’s leading rebounder at 7.5 boards per game.

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE: With one win this weekend, CSM will tie its victory total from all of last season when it won five games.

WELCOME BACK RYAN: CSM sophomore forward Ryan Woodson returned to action last week after missing the first five games due to a knee injury. In his first game action at UNC, Woodson posted two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes. As a freshman, he started 21 games and averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.

SCOUTING THIS WEEK’S COMPETITION:
WESTERN STATE enters the week at 0-5 overall following a 74-60 loss at Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Mountaineers are surrendering 84.8 points per game and are averaging an RMAC low 63.8 points per contest. James Greene leads the squad with 18.0 points and 6.0 boards per game, while Blake Macomber averages 9.3 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds each time out.

UCCS enters the week at 1-2 overall and will host Colorado College on Tuesday night and play at Colorado Christian on Friday night before playing in Golden on Saturday night. The Mountain Lions have four players who are averaging double figures, including Casey Gutting who is scoring a team-best 13.7 points per game. Jim Pecic is averaging 11.7 points and is second in the RMAC with 10.3 boards per contest.