COLORADO MINES MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #6
at Mesa State, 1/3/03 - Grand Junction, Colo., 8:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
10 Kevin Wagstaff G 8.6 2.9 4.5 .460
11 Stephen Bahl G 25.8 1.0 2.4 .484
20 Matt Luedtke G 17.1 4.6 2.5 .417
44 Farris Broussard F 4.8 6.4 2.3 .773
55 Mike McNish C 13.9 7.1 2.3 .701

OFF THE BENCH
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
3 Cole Henderson G/F 0.6 0.6 0.5 .500
5 Chad Friehauf G 5.3 4.2 1.7 .333
23 Ross Rhinehart G 3.1 0.8 1.1 .500
30 Justin Buckmaster F 5.4 3.8 1.5 .583
31 Bill Hadley G 0.0 0.5 0.0 .000
52 Ryan Woodson C 6.2 3.8 0.5 .458

THE HEAD COACH
Pryor Orser is in his second season at the helm of the Oredigger men’s basketball program. He claims a 13-23 overall mark and a 5-16 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 (12/21/02): The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball placed five players in double figures and improved to 8-2 overall with a 95-78 victory over Alaska Anchorage at the UAA Sports Center on Saturday night. The victory completes a two game sweep for CSM over the Seawolves as Mines knocked off UAA, 83-81, on Friday night. The Orediggers jumped out to an 8-0 lead two minutes into the contest as sophomore guard Matt Luedtke scored all eight points, including a pair of three pointers. CSM extended its lead to 20-3 at the 13:33 mark, however, UAA was able to cut the lead to nine points (45-36) at the break. Mines began the second half on a 14-7 run to claim a 59-43 lead with 13 minutes to play and the Seawolves would get no closer the rest of the game as the Orediggers shot 57 percent from the field, including 60 percent (18-30) in the second half. Luedtke led CSM with 24 points, a team-best eight rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl added 18 points, while freshman guard Kevin Wagstaff chipped in with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The other two Oredigger players to reach double figures in scoring were senior center Mike McNish with 13 points and senior forward Justin Buckmaster (10).

WANNA BE A BAHLER: Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl has lived up to his name early this season. The Broomfield, Colo., native is leading the RMAC this season as he is averaging 25.8 points per game. He has scored at least 25 points in seven of the ten 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, is shooting 48 percent from the field and 49 percent from three-point land this season.

“KEY” TO SUCCESS: Sophomore guard Matt Luedtke has been an integral part to the success of the Orediggers this season as he is averaging 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. In the 95-78 victory at Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 21, Luedtke scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting and also grabbed a career high eight rebounds, dished out five assists and notched two steals.

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 Oredigger program.

LIGHT IT UP: The Orediggers have lit up the scoreboard thusfar this season. In fact, Mines is 7-0 when scoring at least 80 points and has topped the 100-point plateau on two occasions this season.

IS EIGHT ENOUGH???: Mines began the season by going 8-2 over its first ten games for the first time since opening the 1981-82 season at 8-2. In fact, CSM is more than halfway to clinching its first winning season since 1987-88 when that squad went 20-11.

WE MEET AGAIN: Friday night’s meeting between Mines and Mesa will be the second time the teams have met on the court this season. In the first meeting on Nov. 23 at the Colorado Mines Classic on Volk Gymnaisum, the Orediggers came away with a 98-93 overtime victory behind a career-high 35 points from sophomore guard Matt Luedtke and 31 points from sophomore guard Stephen Bahl. Dwayne Horn led the Mavericks with 27 points, while Russ Mendelson tallied a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards.

SCOUTING THIS WEEK’S COMPETITION:
Mesa State enters the week at 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC. The Mavericks have not been in action since an 80-74 loss at Westminster College on Dec. 21. After opening the season by going 4-1, Mesa State has lost three of four games heading into the New Year.

For the season, the squad is led by Dwayne Horn who lleads the team in scoring at 18.6 points per game and also grabs 4.1 boards per contest. Russ Mendelson tallied 17.4 points and grabs a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game, while Aaron Hill averages 13.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

As a team, Mesa is shooting 51 percent from the field, 46 percent from three-point range and 76 percent from the charity stripe. The Mavericks score 82.3 points per game and surrender 83.0 points to their opponents on average.