COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES #6

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Colorado Mines at Colorado State-Pueblo
Friday, January 9, 2004
8:00 pm • Pueblo, Colo.

Colorado Mines at New Mexico Highlands
Saturday, January 10, 2004
8:00 pm • Las Vegas, N.M.

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
3 Kevin Wagstaff 5-10 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 12.5 1.7 3.1
11 Stephen Bahl 5-10 Jr. Broomfield, Colo. 20.7 2.4 3.4
20 Matt Luedtke 6-0 Jr. Ronan, Mont. 18.5 5.5 2.2
32 Ryan McKay 6-8 Fr. Halstead, Kan. 6.0 4.1 0.8
52 Davey Iverson 6-6 RFR Winnett, Mont. 8.9 7.1 0.7

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. 2.4 1.4 1.2
30 Matt Witwer 6-5 Fr. Minot, N.D. 1.5 1.1 0.5
33 Clayton Moores 6-8 Fr. Denver, Colo. 4.6 4.0 0.5
40 Casey Schmitz 6-6 Fr. Williston, N.D. 1.6 3.0 0.1
42 Dale Fallon 6-3 Fr. Guymon, Okla. 2.0 1.0 0.4
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: CSM will host Adams State and Fort Lewis on Jan. 16-17. Both games are slated for 8:00 pm in Volk Gymnasium.

LAST TIME OUT (1/3/04): The Colorado Mines men’s basketball team fell to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play with an 84-73 setback to Mesa State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action in Volk Gymnasium. Leading 16-15 with 14 minutes to play in the first half, the Mavericks would proceed to go on a 9-0 run to claim a 24-15 lead with 7:35 to play in the half and hold on to a nine point lead at the intermission (36-27). Mesa would extend its halftime advantage to as many as 19 points (54-35) with 13 minutes to play in the second half. However, the Orediggers mounted a furious rally to slice the lead to 65-61 with five minutes to play only to see the Mavericks respond with a 9-3 run to reclaim a 10 point lead with two minutes to play. Mines redshirt freshman forward Davey Iverson scored 17 points and grabbed seven boards to lead his squad.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO: CSU-Pueblo enters the week at 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the RMAC after losing at Nebraska-Kearney (87-78) and upsetting Fort Hays State, 67-64, on the road last weekend. Alfred Sanchez posted 34 points and eight boards in the road split. For the season, Sanchez leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game, while Brian Vecchio (13.6 ppg) and Matt Brooks (10.0 ppg) also score in double figures. The T-Wolves shoot 53 percent from the floor, 45 percent from three-point land and 68 percent from the free throw line.

LAST TIME vs. CSU-PUEBLO (1/10/03): Colorado Mines guard Stephen Bahl scored all 21 points of his points in the second half to lead the Orediggers to a 78-66 victory over Southern Colorado in Volk Gymnasium. USC jumped out to a 20-9 lead eight minutes into the game, but CSM would close the half on a 24-12 run to claim a one point lead at intermission (33-32). The Thunderwolves claimed their last lead of the game (41-40) with 16:31 left in the game. From there, Mines would go on a 26-10 run to gain its largest lead of the night (66-51). For USC, Chad France notched a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS: The Cowboys enter the week at 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC after losing at Fort Hays State (80-55) and Nebraska-Kearney (116-87) over the weekend. Terence Mirabel totaled 39 points in the two games. Mirabel leads the team in scoring this season (14.0 ppg), while Jamaal Weaver posts 13.4 points and a team-best 7.5 boards per contest. As a team, NMHU shoots 43 percent from the floor, 38 percent from three point range and 62 percent from the foul line.

LAST TIME vs. HIGHLANDS (1/11/03): The Colorado Mines men’s basketball team outscored New Mexico Highlands, 55-39, in the second half and cruised to a 101-80 victory in Volk Gymnasium. Leading by five at the break, Mines would break the game open as it began the second half on an 11-3 run to take a 57-44 lead three minutes into the second half. Stephen Bahl tallied a game-high 23 points for Mines, whileHighlands was paced by Jamaal Weaver who tallied a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards.

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 is currently second in the RMAC in scoring at 20.7 points per game and leads the team with 37 assists and 19 steals.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Junior guard Matt Luedtke has gotten off to a great start in 2003. He is third in the league in scoring (18.5 ppg) and also contributes 5.5 rebounds per game. He also posted his first double double of the season (25 points and 10 boards) in a 79-69 overtime loss to North Dakota on Dec. 28.

DYNAMIC DUP: Junior guards Stephen Bahl and Matt Luedtke combine to form the highest scoring duo from one team in the RMAC at 39.2 points per game. Bahl is second in the league in scoring (20.7 ppg), while Luedtke is third (18.5 ppg).

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.

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 (7.1) and is fourth on the squad in scoring (8.9) after posting a career-high 17 points in Saturday’s loss to Mesa.

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.

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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After opening with two home games, Mines will have played nine of its next 11 games away from Volk Gymnasium, including a pair this weekend.