COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES #5

CLICK HERE for a complete PDF version

Colorado Mines vs. North Dakota
Sunday, December 28, 2003
3:00 pm • Vermillion, S.D

Colorado Mines at South Dakota State
Monday, December 29, 2003
8:00 pm • Vermillion, S.D

Colorado Mines vs. Mesa State
Saturday, January 3, 2004
8:00 pm • Golden, Colorado

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
3 Kevin Wagstaff 5-10 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 12.0 1.6 3.5
11 Stephen Bahl 5-10 Jr. Broomfield, Colo. 23.0 2.5 2.9
20 Matt Luedtke 6-0 Jr. Ronan, Mont. 18.5 5.3 2.0
33 Clayton Moores 6-8 Fr. Denver, Colo. 5.9 5.1 0.5
52 Davey Iverson 6-6 RFR Winnett, Mont. 8.1 6.4 0.6

No. Off the Bench Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
10 Ross Shaeffer 5-10 Fr. Casper, Wyo. 0.9 0.4 1.1
22 Bill Hadley 6-0 So. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 Ross Rhinehart 6-4 So. Highlands Ranch, Colo. 2.3 1.4 1.0
30 Matt Witwer 6-5 Fr. Minot, N.D. 1.8 1.8 0.6
32 Ryan McKay 6-8 Fr. Halstead, Kan. 6.4 4.7 1.1
40 Casey Schmitz 6-6 Fr. Williston, N.D. 1.0 2.8 0.2
42 Dale Fallon 6-3 Fr. Guymon, Okla. 0.8 1.2 0.2
55 Bryan Carruthers 6-0 Fr. Longmont, Colo. 0.0 0.5 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: Mines will play two RMAC games on the road beginning Jan. 9 at CSU-Pueblo. On Jan. 10, CSM will travel to N.M. Highlands. Both games are slated for 8:00 pm.

LAST TIME OUT (12/17/03): Colorado Mines junior guards Stephen Bahl and Matt Luedtke combined for 61 points as CSM rolled to an easy 96-75 victory over Northern Colorado in nonconference action at Volk Gymnasium. Mines raced out to a 28-18 lead midway through the first half and maintained a double digit lead for the remainder of the game. The lead would swell to as many as 34 points (93-59) on a layup from Bahl with 2:39 to play in the game. Bahl led all scorers with 35 points and added a game-best six assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Luedtke finished with 26 markers and four boards.

ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA: UND enters the week at 7-4 overall and has won six of seven games with its lone loss during the run coming in overtime. The Fighting Sioux have five players who score in double figures led by Keith Parka’s 16.1 points per game. Evan Lindahl adds 13.6 points and 6.2 boards per game, while Todd Rypkema posts 13.2 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: SDSU is a perfect 13-0 and ranked third in Division II. The Jackrabbits, who boast a 23-game home winning streak, tied for second best in the nation, have five players who average double figures. Andy Moeller leads the way at 16.6 points, while Matt Jones averages 12.0 points and 6.3 boards per game. Joe Green posts 11.5 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per night.

ABOUT MESA STATE: The Mavericks are 1-5 overall (0-2 RMAC) and will play Western State and Lee at their own holiday Tournament on Dec. 28-29. Tony Qorri leads the team at 9.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. David Dunbar contributes 9.0 points and Dwayne Horn averages 8.8 points and 1.5 boards per game. This will be Mesa’s second trip to Golden this season after playing two games in Volk Gymnasium during the Colorado Mines Classic on Nov. 21-22.

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. He has scored in double figures in 36 straight games, including a season-high 35 points in a win over Northern Colorado on Dec. 17.
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. He posted a career-best 22 points in in a loss at Western State on Dec. 12.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Junior guard Matt Luedtke has gotten off to a great start in 2003. His is fifth in the RMAC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and is third on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg). He has led the team in scoring on four occasions this season and leads the team with 10 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 (6.4) and is fourth on the squad in scoring (8.1).

WE WANT MOORES: Freshman center Clayton Moores has been solid in his first collegiate season. He is averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and leads the team with 13 blocked shots. In a Dec. 17 win over Northern Colorado, Moores set career-highs with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Freshman forward Dale Fallon showed why he will be a force in the coming years in a Dec. 17 win over Northern Colorado. He set career-highs with four points and six rebounds (3 offensive and 3 defensive) in just nine minutes of action.

YOUNG DIGGERS: The CSM roster features just four players who began the season with experience playing college basketball and eight players who are in their first season.

FIRSTS: Mines set several firsts of the season in a 96-75 win over Northern Colorado on Dec. 17. It marked the first time CSM outrebounded an opponent this year, the first time the team shot better than 50 percent from the floor, the first time the squad scored more than 90 points and the first time the team won a game while leading at halftime (1-3).