COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES #3

CLICK HERE for a complete PDF version

Colorado Mines at Western State
Friday, December 12, 2003
8:00 pm • Gunnison, Colorado

Colorado Mines at CU-Colorado Springs
Saturday, December 13, 2003
8:00 pm • Colorado Springs, Colo.

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
3 Kevin Wagstaff 5-10 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 11.2 1.2 3.6
11 Stephen Bahl 5-10 Jr. Broomfield, Colo. 24.4 2.2 2.6
20 Matt Luedtke 6-0 Jr. Ronan, Mont. 18.0 5.0 2.0
32 Ryan McKay 6-8 Fr. Halstead, Kan. 6.8 5.2 1.6
52 Davey Iverson 6-6 RFR Winnett, Mont. 8.2 6.0 0.8

No. Off the Bench Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
10 Ross Shaeffer 5-10 Fr. Casper, Wyo. 0.6 0.4 1.8
22 Bill Hadley 6-0 So. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 Ross Rhinehart 6-4 So. Highlands Ranch, Colo. 3.0 1.4 1.0
30 Matt Witwer 6-5 Fr. Minot, N.D. 0.0 0.5 0.0
33 Clayton Moores 6-8 Fr. Denver, Colo. 6.6 4.2 0.4
40 Casey Schmitz 6-6 Fr. Williston, N.D. 1.0 3.7 0.3
42 Dale Fallon 6-3 Fr. Guymon, Okla. 0.0 0.0 0.3
55 Bryan Carruthers 6-0 Fr. Longmont, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0

THE HEAD COACH: The 2003-04 season will mark Pryor Orser’s third year as the head men’s basketball coach at Colorado School of Mines. Last year, Orser led CSM to one of the best seasons in school history as the team posted an overall record of 18-10, including a 12-7 mark in the RMAC. Mines also advanced to the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 1999 where it was knocked off at Fort Hays State in the opening round. In his first season at the helm, Orser led the Orediggers to an overall record of 5-21, including a 3-16 mark in the RMAC. Prior to coming to CSM, Orser served one year as the assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Montana in Missoula. Orser received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration–Finance with minors in Economics and History in 1990 from Eastern Montana College and his Masters of Education in 1995 from Montana State University-Billings.
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, an assistant to the men’s basketball program, and a physical education instructor. At Northwest, Orser led the women’s squad to the most wins in school history (22) during his fourth and final season. It was an improvement of 20 games from his first season at the school. Orser also served a two-year stint as the assistant men’s coach and the assistant sports information director at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and a three-year position as the men’s assistant at Montana State University at Billings. A graduate of Gardiner High School in Gardiner, Mont., Orser received Class C State MVP honors as a senior in 1985. He lettered four years at MSU – Billings as the team went to the NCAA II tournament twice in Orser’s collegiate career, including a trip to the 1987 NCAA Division II Final Four.

MINES PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON RMAC POLL: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team was picked fourth out of seven teams in the Preseason RMAC East Division Poll. Metro State was picked to win the East Division with 13 points and 13 first place votes. The Roadrunners were followed by Nebraska-Kearney (30), Fort Hays State (35), Mines (50), Regis (66), Chadron State (69) and Colorado Christian (80). Individually, junior guards Stephen Bahl and Matt Luedtke were named to the Preseason All-RMAC East Division Team.

UP NEXT: The Orediggers will conclude their home and home series with Northern Colorado as they host the Bears for a 7:00 pm tipoff on Dec. 17.

LAST TIME OUT (11/29/03): Colorado Mines slipped to 2-3 overall with an 81-76 setback to Seattle Pacific in the final day of action at the 44th Annual Wittmeier Auto Center Classic Mac Martin Tournament in Acker Gymnasium. Junior guard Stephen Bahl totaled 21 points, five steals and four assists and was named to the all-tournament team. For the second time in as many days, the Orediggers raced out to a halftime lead, 44-35. However, Seattle Pacific (2-2) would go on to outscore Mines, 46-32, in the second half to claim the win. In addition to Bahl, junior guard Matt Luedtke scored a game-best 22 points and added four rebounds and two steals. Freshman center Clayton Moores was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor for eight points and redshirt freshman forward Davey Iverson chipped in eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

ABOUT WESTERN STATE: The Mountaineers enter the week at 0-4 overall and have not been in action since losing a pair at the Grand Canyon Tournament two weeks ago. Dusty Axtell leads the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg). Bly McGuire posts 10.8 points and 4.0 boards per game, while John Campbell averages 9.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per night.

ABOUT CU-COLORADO SPRINGS: The Mountain Lions enter play at 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the RMAC following a 101-43 loss to Metro State on Saturday night. Jack Bain posted a double double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. UCCS will play Colorado College on Wednesday and Colorado Christian on Friday before hosting Mines. Bain leads the team as he is averaging 12.0 points and 9.7 boards per game, while Casey Gutting records 10.3 points per game.

FARRIS’ YEAR OFF: Senior forward Farris Broussard will be forced to miss this season and redshirt due to an injury. He is slated to return for the 2004-05 season to play his senior season.

MILESTONE REACHED: Junior guard Stephen Bahl reached a milestone in a loss to Central Washington on Nov. 28 when he scored his 1,000th career point.

HE’S A BALLER: Junior guard Stephen Bahl is one of the top returning players in the conference and region this season. Last year, he led the RMAC in scoring (22.2 ppg) en route to First Team All-RMAC and Second Team All-Region honors. Bahl was honored as a Preseason Honorable Mention All-America by Street and Smith’s this season.

WHAT’S THE POINT: Sophomore point guard Kevin Wagstaff returns to anchor the Oredigger offense after being named the RMAC Newcomer of the Year last season. In the season opener, an 89-75 win over West Texas A&M, Wagstaff finished with a career-high 19 points.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Junior guard Matt Luedtke has gotten off to a great start in 2003. His is fifth in the RMAC in scoring (18.0 ppg) and is third on the team in rebounding (5.0 rpg). He has led the team in scoring on three occasions this season and leads the team with eight steals.

NOT ALLEN, BUT DAVEY WILL DO: Redshirt freshman forward Davey Iverson has had an outstanding start to his career. In his first collegiate game, Iverson posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and added three assists. He currently leads the team in rebounding (6.0) and is fourth on the squad in scoring (8.2).

HE’S OK: Freshman center Ryan McKay has made an immediate impact on the court. A starter in all five games this year, McKay is fifth on the team in scoring (6.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.2).

WE WANT MOORES: Freshman center Clayton Moores has provided a spark off the bench for CSM as he is averaging 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and a team-high 1.0 blocked shots per game. In addition, he is second in the league with a .762 shooting percentage from the field (16-21).

TOUGH START: Despite its 2-3 start, the youthful Orediggers are proving they can compete with talented teams. The team has victories over West Texas A&M, an NCAA Tournament qualifier last season, and Northern Colorado, a transitional Division I team. The losses have come to teams that won 20, 16 and 16 games a year ago.

GOOD “D”: CSM has allowed just one team (Seattle Pacific at .549) to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor this season, including a season-low 41 percent to Central Washington. On the flip side, Mines has yet to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor.