COLORADO MINES MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #7
vs. Southern Colorado, 1/10/03 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm
vs. New Mexico Highlands, 1/11/03 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. PPG RPG APG FG%
10 Kevin Wagstaff G 8.5 2.8 4.5 .443
11 Stephen Bahl G 24.8 0.9 2.5 .482
20 Matt Luedtke G 17.0 4.7 2.7 .425
44 Farris Broussard F 5.6 6.8 2.2 .750
55 Mike McNish C 13.2 6.7 2.1 .709

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 5.0 3.9 1.6 .320
23 Ross Rhinehart G 3.1 0.8 1.1 .467
30 Justin Buckmaster F 5.4 4.0 1.3 .590
31 Bill Hadley G 0.0 0.5 0.0 .000
52 Ryan Woodson C 5.5 4.0 0.8 .400

THE HEAD COACH
Pryor Orser is in his second season at the helm of the Oredigger men’s basketball program. He claims a 14-23 overall mark and a 6-16 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 (1/3/03): Colorado School of Mines junior forward Farris Broussard notched his first double-double of the season with a season-high 14 points and 11 rebounds to help lead the Orediggers to a 70-66 victory over Mesa State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Friday night. CSM claimed its largest lead of the first half (36-29) with 2:46 to play, but the Mavericks used an 8-0 run to close the first half with a 37-36 lead. Mesa’s Aaron Hill capped the run with a three-pointer at the buzzer. The second half was close throughout as the Orediggers claimed nothing more than a six point lead early in the half. Then, with the score tied at 66-66, Broussard converted a layup with 1:56 left to give Mines a two-point lead and sophomore guard Matt Luedtke sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to seal the win. Mines wound up holding Mesa without a point over the final 3:16 of action and without a field goal over the last 4:19 of play. Luedtke concluded the game with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, while sophomore guard Stephen Bahl added 15 points and four assists in the victory.

WANNA BE A BAHLER: Sophomore guard Stephen Bahl has lived up to his name early this season as the Broomfield, Colo., native is leading the RMAC this season as he is averaging 24.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season. He has scored at least 25 points in seven of the 11 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 had several great all-around performances this season, but has been on a recent hot streak over the last three games. In those contests, he has averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range in 32 minutes per contest.

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.

FIVE ALIVE: In the first edition of the North Central Regional rankings, CSM was ranked fifth as it earned its highest ranking in school history. The next edition of the regional rankings will be released on Wednesday of this week.

FIVE STRAIGHT: CSM is on a five-game winning streak for the first time since winning five in a row during the end of the 1989-90 season when the team won six straight. Prior to that, Mines’ longest winning streak was 10 straight in 1987-88.

THREE’S GALORE: Friday’s game between Mines and Southern Colorado will feature two of the most potent three-point attacks in the league as both are averaging 11 hits per game (121 makes in 11 games). Mines sophomore guards Matt Luedtke (39) and Stephen Bahl (37) rank second and fifth in the RMAC in trifectas made, while USC’s duo of Darius Pope (38) and Brian Vecchio (37) rank third and sixth in the RMAC.

SCOUTING THIS WEEK’S COMPETITION:
Southern Colorado, ranked ninth in the first North Central Regional Rankings, enters the week at 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the RMAC as it split two games at home last weekend. USC fell to Nebraska-Kearney, 86-68, before defeating Fort Hays, 74-71. For the season, Darius Pope leads the Thunderwolves with 16.8 points and 3.1 boards per game. Alfred Sanchez scores 13.5 points and dishes out 6.1 assists per game, while Chad France posts 13.0 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game. As a team, USC is shooting 51 percent from the field, 42 percent from three-point range and 71 percent from the free throw line as it averages 76.9 points per game.

New Mexico Highlands enters play this week at 1-9 overall and 0-3 in the conference following losses to Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays over the weekend. For the season, Glen Brown leads the with 12.0 points and 7.0 boards per game, while Jamaal Weaver posts 10.3 points and a team-high 8.4 boards per night. As a team, NMHU is shooting 42 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the three-point line.