COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES #9

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Colorado Mines vs. Fort Hays State
Friday, January 30, 2004
8:00 pm • Golden, Colo.

Colorado Mines vs. Nebraska-Kearney
Saturday, January 31, 2004
8:00 pm • Golden, Colo.

No. Probable Starters Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
3 Kevin Wagstaff 5-10 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 10.5 1.9 2.8
11 Stephen Bahl 5-10 Jr. Broomfield, Colo. 19.8 2.2 2.6
20 Matt Luedtke 6-0 Jr. Ronan, Mont. 17.4 4.9 1.6
32 Ryan McKay 6-8 Fr. Halstead, Kan. 4.6 3.9 0.6
52 Davey Iverson 6-6 RFR Winnett, Mont. 8.2 6.5 0.6

No. Off the Bench Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
10 Ross Shaeffer 5-10 Fr. Casper, Wyo. 1.2 0.5 1.1
22 Bill Hadley 6-0 So. Littleton, Colo. 0.7 0.2 0.0
23 Ross Rhinehart 6-4 So. Highlands Ranch, Colo. 1.8 1.2 1.1
30 Matt Witwer 6-5 Fr. Minot, N.D. 2.2 1.5 0.5
33 Clayton Moores 6-8 Fr. Denver, Colo. 4.5 3.4 0.4
40 Casey Schmitz 6-6 Fr. Williston, N.D. 2.3 2.6 0.1
42 Dale Fallon 6-3 Fr. Guymon, Okla. 1.6 1.6 0.3
55 Bryan Carruthers 6-0 Fr. Longmont, Colo. 0.6 0.4 0.6

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 be back on the road to take on Chadron State at 8:00 pm on Feb. 5 and Metro State on Feb. 7 at 7:00 pm

LAST TIME OUT (1/24/04): Regis raced out to a 36-16 lead at halftime and claimed an 81-43 victory over Colorado School of Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Regis Fieldhouse. Junior guard Matt Luedtke was the only Oredigger to reach double figures as he scored 14 points.

ABOUT FORT HAYS STATE: The Tigers begin the week at 10-6 overall and 5-4 in the RMAC. Last week, FHSU defeated Chadron State (80-74) and lost to Metro State (98-71) at home. For the season, Dontez Dean and Terrell Young are tied for the team lead in scoring at 10.6 points per game, while Dean leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game. Dominique Townes is averaging 10.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and leads the team with 53 assists.

LAST TIME vs. FHSU (3/5/03): The fifth-seeded Colorado Mines men’s basketball team was handed an 82-69 setback at fourth-seeded Fort Hays State in the quarterfinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers jumped out to a 17-7 lead after eight minutes and claimed a 32-23 lead at the break. FHSU would extend its lead to 57-37 midway through the second half only to see Mines use a 29-16 run to slice its deficit to seven points (73-66) with 1:49 to play on a jumper from Kevin Wagstaff. However, the Tigers would hold on and settle for the 13-point win. CSM was led by Farris Broussard who tallied 17 points, five steals, four blocks and two boards. The Tigers were paced by George Walker and Melroy McKelvey who each produced double-doubles. Walker registered 16 points and 14 boards, while McKelvey added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

ABOUT NEBRASKA-KEARNEY: The Lopers begin the week at 15-2 overall and 7-2 in conference play after losing to Metro State, 88-73, and knocking off Chadron State, 105-60, at home last weekend. For the season, Nick Branting leads the RMAC in scoring at 21.1 points per game and is also tied for seventh in rebounding (7.1 rpg). The Lopers have four other players averaging double figures, Will Taukiuvea (14.7 ppg), Brian Dunagan (13.3 ppg), Dusty Jura (13.1 ppg) and Cameron Lollar (10.3 ppg).

LAST TIME vs. KEARNEY (2/15/03): Nebraska-Kearney kept its perfect season alive with a 72-70 win over Colorado Mines in front of a sold out, standing room only crowd in Volk Gymnasium. Trailing by six (66-60) with 5:56 to play, CSM went on a 10-3 run to regain the lead with 1:18 to play at 70-69. A jumper by the Loper’s Richard Dionne on the next possession, a Mines turnover and Marty Levinson’s front end of a one and one gave UNK a 72-70 lead with 16 seconds left. Levinson missed the second attempt, but the Lopers retained possession as Mines knocked the ball out of bounds. CSM then fouled Chad Sheffield who missed the front end of the one and one which was rebounded by CSM forward Farris Broussard. UNK used its last foul to give with two seconds left and gave Mines the ball on the sideline. Kevin Wagstaff lofted a pass toward the basket, but Broussard was not able to tip it in as time expired. Luedtke led CSM as he registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, while UNK was led by Dionne who notched 24 points and seven rebounds.

FARRIS’ YEAR OFF: Forward Farris Broussard will miss this season and redshirt due to 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 19.8 points per game and leads the team with 25 steals.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Junior guard Matt Luedtke has showcased his all-around game this year. Luedtke is second on the team in scoring (17.4 ppg), rebounding (4.9 rpg) and steals (19) and third in assists with 28. 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 37.2 points per game. Bahl is second in the league in scoring (19.8 ppg), while Luedtke is fifth (17.4 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 (8.2 ppg) and ranks 11th in the RMAC in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and fifth in blocked shots per game (1.0 bpg).

WE WANT MOORES: Freshman center Clayton Moores has been solid in his first collegiate season. He is averaging 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and leads the team with 17 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 a loss to Fort Lewis on Jan. 17 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.

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.