COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES #8

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Colorado Mines at Colorado Christian
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
8:00 pm • Lakewood, Colo.

Colorado Mines at Regis
Saturday, January 24, 2004
3:00 pm • Denver, Colo.

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
3 Kevin Wagstaff 5-10 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 10.9 1.9 2.8
11 Stephen Bahl 5-10 Jr. Broomfield, Colo. 20.4 2.2 2.9
20 Matt Luedtke 6-0 Jr. Ronan, Mont. 17.2 5.1 1.8
32 Ryan McKay 6-8 Fr. Halstead, Kan. 4.7 4.0 0.6
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. 1.2 0.6 1.3
22 Bill Hadley 6-0 So. Littleton, Colo. 0.5 0.0 0.0
23 Ross Rhinehart 6-4 So. Highlands Ranch, Colo. 1.7 1.3 1.0
30 Matt Witwer 6-5 Fr. Minot, N.D. 2.1 1.5 0.5
33 Clayton Moores 6-8 Fr. Denver, Colo. 4.2 3.5 0.4
40 Casey Schmitz 6-6 Fr. Williston, N.D. 2.2 2.6 0.2
42 Dale Fallon 6-3 Fr. Guymon, Okla. 1.6 1.6 0.3
55 Bryan Carruthers 6-0 Fr. Longmont, Colo. 1.0 0.7 0.7

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 return home to face Fort Hays State on Jan. 30 and Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 31. Both games are at 8:00 pm in Volk Gymnasium.

LAST TIME OUT (1/17/04): Fort Lewis raced out to a 43-29 halftime lead and claimed a 91-63 victory over Colorado Mines in Volk Gymnasium. FLC gained a double digit lead for good (21-11) when Tim Bieri converted a layup with 12:49 to play in the first half. CSM junior guard Stephen Bahl scored a team-high 16 points, while redshirt freshman forward Davey Iverson recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN: The Cougars enter the week at 14-1 overall and 7-0 in the RMAC. CCU and Nebraska-Kearney are the lone unbeatens in conference play and the Cougars have not lost since an 83-80 setback to Cal-State Bernardino in the season opener. This past weekend, CCU knocked off Fort Lewis, 92-89, and Adams State, 75-64, at home as as Matt Vaughn scored 36 in the win over FLC and 31 in the victory over Adams. For the season, Vaughn is third in the RMAC in scoring (18.3 ppg) and also posts 3.0 rebounds per night. Brent Hobba and Lance Goeddel each average 12.1 points and Goeddel leads the team at 6.3 boards per night.

LAST TIME vs. CCU (2/25/03): Matt Luedtke and Stephen Bahl combined for 48 points to lead the Orediggers to a 75-67 win at Colorado Christian. Mines, which trailed 31-25 at halftime, used a 23-9 run to open the second half and claim a 48-40 lead with 14:32 left. CSM then weathered three runs by the Cougars to hold on for the win. Luedtke scored his 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting from three-point land and also tallied eight boards and three steals. Bahl scored his 20 on 6-of-16 shooting, while Clinton Fuller registered 11 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars.

ABOUT REGIS: The Rangers enter the week at 9-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play after losing to Mesa State, 79-74, on Saturday afternoon. Austin Christensen registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards in the loss. For the season, Christensen is seventh in the RMAC in scoring (15.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (9.3 rpg). Brandon Jones (11.8 ppg) and Kent Brown (10.2 ppg) also score in double figures for the Rangers.

LAST TIME vs. REGIS (3/1/03): Colorado Mines opened the second half on a 21-8 run and claimed an 82-67 victory at Regis. Stephen Bahl scored 15 points, while Regis (12-15, 5-14) was led by Jeremy Bennett who scored a game-best 17 points.

FARRIS’ YEAR OFF: Senior forward Farris Broussard will 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 “BAHL”ER: 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 20.4 points per game and leads the team with 44 assists and 23 steals.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Junior guard Matt Luedtke has showcased his all-around game this year. Luedtke is second on the team in scoring (17.2 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg) and steals (17) and third in assists with 27. 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 DUO: Junior guards Stephen Bahl and Matt Luedtke combine to form the highest scoring duo from one team in the RMAC at 38.3 points per game. Bahl is second in the league in scoring (20.4 ppg), while Luedtke is fifth (17.2 ppg).

WHAT’S THE POINT: Sophomore point guard Kevin Wagstaff is anchoring the CSM offense for the second striaght year 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 is fourth on the team in scoring (8.7 ppg) and ranks seventh in the RMAC in rebounding (7.1 rpg) and fourth in blocked shots per game (1.1 bpg). Over the last six games, Iverson is averaging 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He notched his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Frot Lewis.

WE WANT MOORES: Freshman center Clayton Moores has been solid in his first collegiate season. He is averaging 4.2 points and 3.5 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.

CASEY ON THE COURT: Freshman center Casey Schmitz had a career night in a 71-51 win at New Mexico Highlands on Jan. 10. Schmitz finished with a career-high 12 points and four rebounds.

SOME P.T. FOR B.C.: Freshman guard Bryan Carruthers saw his first extenisve playing time of the season in Saturday’s loss to Fort Lewis and was impressive. Carruthers knocked down his only shot attempt of the game, a three-pointer, and also finished with two assists, two steals and one rebound in 21 minutes of work.

ON THE LINE: Close games often come down to free throw shooting and the Orediggers may have an advantage at the charity stripe against its opposition. Mines is currently ranked second in the RMAC and 29th nationally in free throw percentage (.728). Only Nebraska-Kearney at .748 shoots free throws better than Mines among RMAC schools.

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.