COLORADO MINES MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes - Week #9
vs. Colorado Christian, 1/21/03 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm
vs. Regis, 1/23/03 - Golden, Colo., 8:00 pm

PROBABLE STARTERS
10 Kevin Wagstaff G 9.7 2.9 4.1 .446
11 Stephen Bahl G 23.3 1.1 2.3 .481
20 Matt Luedtke G 15.3 4.9 2.8 .423
44 Farris Broussard F 5.1 6.1 1.9 .707
55 Mike McNish C 13.0 6.6 1.9 .685

OFF THE BENCH
3 Cole Henderson G/F 0.8 0.5 0.7 .667
5 Chad Friehauf G 5.0 3.7 1.5 .324
23 Ross Rhinehart G 3.3 0.8 1.1 .500
30 Justin Buckmaster F 5.6 3.7 1.1 .544
31 Bill Hadley G 0.0 0.3 0.0 .000
52 Ryan Woodson C 7.1 4.8 1.0 .469

THE HEAD COACH
Pryor Orser is in his second season at the helm of the Oredigger men’s basketball program. He claims a 18-23 overall mark and an 10-16 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 (1/18/03): The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team completed a seven-game sweep of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Western Division with a 93-86 victory over Fort Lewis on Saturday evening at the FLC Fieldhouse. Mines raced out to a quick 12-3 lead three minutes into the contest, but FLC responded with an 18-3 run to claim a 21-15 lead with 14:21 to play in the first half. From that point, CSM closed the first half by outscoring the Skyhawks, 39-24 to claim a 54-45 advantage at the break. The Skyhawks opened the second half on a 19-3 run to regain the lead (64-57) with 14:42 to play in the contest, but Mines would regain a 72-71 lead midway through the final stanza and push its lead to as many as 12 points and FLC would not threaten from there. CSM freshman guard Kevin Wagstaff led his team with 17 points and two assists, while senior center Mike McNish added 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Matt Luedtke tallied 15 points, five rebounds and four assists and sophomore guard Stephen Bahl notched 14 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 23.3 points per game. In addition, he has scored in double figures in all 15 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 three-point land and 80 percent from the charity stripe this season. He has led Mines in scoring nine times this season.

WAGS TO RICHES: Freshman guard Kevin Wagstaff has played extremely well in his first season of college basketball. The Rampart High School graduate is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per game and tallied a career-high 18 points in a win over New Mexico Highlands on Jan. 11. He is also ranked fourth in the RMAC in assists (4.2) and is grabbing 2.9 boards per contest. In five games since the calendar turned to 2003, Wagstaff is averaging 11.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game.

FIVE ALIVE: Mines is currently off to its best start in school history at 13-2 and has also attained its highest ranking in program history as the squad is currently the number five ranked team in the North Central Region. The new regional rankings will be released on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

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 program.

TALE OF TWO HALVES: Mines played two completely different halves of basketball in Friday’s win at Adams State. The Oredigger’s dug themselves into a 30-17 halftime deficit as they shot just 23 percent (5-22) from the floor and 0-of-8 from three-point range. However, Mines was 15-of-25 (60%) from the floor, including 8-of-13 (62%) from three-point land, in the second stanza when it outscored the Grizzlies, 49-29.

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 (14-0), ranked fifth 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 (23.3 ppg) and Luedtke (15.3 ppg) are the top team duo in terms of scoring (38.6 ppg). In addition, Bahl and Luedtke have combined for 100 three-pointers, 91 rebounds, 76 assists and 32 steals.

SWISH FOR MCNISH: Senior center Mike McNish has not missed much this season as he has connected on 74-of-108 shot attempts this season. His .685 field goal percentage ranks second in the conference and also ranks in the top-10 nationally.

ALL AROUND GUY: Sophomore guard Matt Luedtke displayed his all-around game over the weekend. Despite being held to just three points at Adams State, he grabbed a career-high 11 boards, dished out four assists and blocked a shot in the seven-point win. The following night at Fort Lewis, Luedtke posted 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal in the win. Over the last seven contests, the six-footer is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game.

FROM THE 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. In his first season with the Oredigger basketball team, Friehauf has played in all 15 games, including two starts, and is averaging 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

NINE IS FINE: CSM is on a nine-game winning streak marking the longest streak for the men’s hoops program since the 1987-88 squad won Mines a program record 10 in a row.

TIME FOR EVERYONE: The Oredigger’s have nine players who are averaging more than 10 minutes per game this season.

BLOCK PARTY: Mines is the top-ranked team in the RMAC in blocked shots with 80 swats in 15 games for an average of 5.3 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 tied for fifth (1.3 bpg), while senior forward Justin Buckmaster is ninth (1.1 bpg). In the win at Adams State on Friday, Mines blocked a season high 13 shots, including four each by McNish and Broussard.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSM is a perfect 7-0 at home this season and is averaging 97 points per game in the confines of Volk Gymnasium. Mines has topped the 100-point mark on three occasions at home this year.

THEN THERE WERE TWO: CSM is one of two undefeated teams in the RMAC heading into play this week. Mines and Nebraska-Kearney, ranked fifth in the nation, are both 7-0 in conference play this season.

SCOUTING THIS WEEK’S COMPETITION:
Colorado Christian enters the week at 7-8 overall and 4-3 in the RMAC East Division which puts them in a tie for fifth place in the league. Over the weekend, the Cougars dropped games at Fort Lewis (81-68) and Adams State (73-66). Lance Goeddel led the way as he totaled 35 points and 12 rebounds in the two games. For the season, Goeddel leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and is second in scoring (15.0 ppg). Matt Vaughn leads his squad in scoring at 15.3 points per game, while Clinton Fuller also posts 15.0 points per night. As a team, CCU shoots 47 percent from the floor and 71 percent from the free throw line.

Regis enters play this week at 10-5 overall and in seventh place in the RMAC East Division at 3-4. Last week, the Rangers earned an 83-62 non-conference win over Colorado College before falling to Mesa State, 60-47. Torrance Toomer, last week’s RMAC East Division Player of the Week, posted double-doubles in both games. For the season, Toomer leads the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg), while Jay Goral averages 10.1 points and 1.4 boards per game. As a team, Regis shoots 46 percent from the field and 68 percent from the foul line. The Rangers opened the season with a pair of games in Volk Gymnasium at the Colorado Mines Classic. They lost to Mesa State (81-69) and defeated Northern Colorado (71-66).

LAST TIME VS. COLORADO CHRISTIAN (2/16/02): Colorado Christian palced five players in double figures and claimed an 80-70 victory over Mines in Lakewood, Colo. Lance Goeddel, Matt Vaughn and Cayce Cook each tallied 14 points for the Cougars, who outscored CSM by five points in each half. Stephen Bahl led the Oredigger’s with 17 points, while Ryan Woodson added 11 points and seven boards.

LAST TIME VS. REGIS (2/15/02): Regis outscored CSM, 39-29, in the second half to turn a five point halftime deficit into a 64-58 victory in Denver, Colo. Jeremy Bennett posted a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting and DeMel Tarver added seven points, five rebounds and three assists for the Rangers. Stephen Bahl led CSM with 16 points and a career-high seven assists, while Ryan Woodson registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.