Colorado School of Mines vs. Nebraska-Omaha
Friday, November 18, 2005 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. Pittsburg State
Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

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THE HEAD COACH: Pryor Orser is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team. He claims an overall record of 46-63, including a 29-47 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games. In 2004-05, he guided the squad to a 16-12 record (10-9 RMAC) and a berth in the RMAC Tournament. In addition, Orser guided CSM to a 74-71 upset of then No. 1-ranked Metro State on Jan. 22 in Volk Gym. He was instrumental in helping senior guard Stephen Bahl earn First Team All-RMAC, First Team All Region and Third Team All-American honors. In addition, he was also named the North Central Region Player of the Year. Orser has coached a total of 11 All-Conference players at CSM, including three Freshmen of the Year, most recently Ben Mohr a season ago.
Orser received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with minors in Economics and History in 1990 from Eastern Montana College and his Masters of Education in 1995 from Montana State University-Billings. His previous coaching experience includes a four-year tenure at Northwest College in Wyo., where he worked as the head coach of the women’s basketball program and an assistant to the men’s basketball program. He also served a two-year stint as the assistant men’s coach at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and a three-year stint as the men’s assistant at Montana State University at Billings.

No. Probable Starters Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
10 Travis Test PG 5-11 Sr. Pierce, Neb. 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 Kyle Pape SG 6-2 Fr. Honolulu, Hawaii 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 Franklin Ryk SF 6-4 Jr. Fort Collins, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
52 Davey Iverson PF 6-6 Jr. Winnett, Mont. 0.0 0.0 0.0
44 Ian Elseth C 6-8 Jr. Grants Pass, Ore. 0.0 0.0 0.0

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
11 Troy Sandley G 6-4 Fr. Eltham, Austrailia 0.0 0.0 0.0
20 Alex Hayman G 6-4 So. Sydney, Austrailia 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 Bill Hadley G 6-0 Sr. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
30 Matt Witwer F 6-5 So. Minot, N.D. 0.0 0.0 0.0
31 Grant Gunhus G 6-3 Fr. Fargo, N.D. 0.0 0.0 0.0
32 Ryan McKay F 6-8 So. Halstead, Kan. 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Clayton Moores C 6-8 Jr. Denver, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
40 Cody Clickner F 6-8 RFR Denver, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
42 Ben Mohr F 6-6 So. Colo. Springs, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0

CSM PICKED FIFTH IN RMAC PRESEASON POLL: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team was picked fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference East Division Preseason Poll with 62 total points. Metro State was tabbed No. 1 with 21 points and seven first place votes to narrowly edge Nebraska-Kearney who received 22 points and six first place votes. They were followed by Fort Hays State (34 points and one first place vote), Regis (50), Colorado School of Mines (62), Chadron State (70) and Colorado Christian (85).

UP NEXT: CSM will return to action next week with a pair of games in Washington State at the Western Washington Classic. On Nov. 25, CSM will play St. Martin’s at 3:00 pm and the following day, the Orediggers will play the host school at 7:00 pm.

LAST TIME OUT (3/2/05): The seventh-seeded Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 75-42 loss at second-seeded Fort Lewis in the First Round of the RMAC/Wells Fargo Shootout at Whalen Gymnasium. CSM was led by Stephen Bahl who totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

ABOUT NERBRASKA-OMAHA: The Mavericks, guided by first-year Head Coach Derrin Hansen, are 1-2 this season after playing in the Disney Tipoff Classic last weekend. The Mavericks defeated Presbyterian and lost to Southern Indiana and Alaska Anchorage. Ryan Curtis leads UNO in scoring (17.3 ppg), while Calvin Kapels (13.7 ppg), Zac Robinson (11.0 ppg) and Chris Despain (10.7 ppg) also are averaging double digits. Kapels also leads the squad in rebounding (6.3 rpg). UNO has defeated the Orediggers in each of the last two seasons.

ABOUT PITTSBURG STATE: The Gorillas, led by 11th-year Head Coach Gene Iba, are coming off a 23-7 season and a third place finish in the MIAA at 13-5. PSU returns one starter in senior guard Eddie Jackson, a Preseason All-American, who averaged 21.1 points per game last season. PSU qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season and lost in the second round, 65-59, to Tarelton State. PSU fell to the University of Kansas, 73-47, on Monday night in an exhibition game.

BATTLE TESTED: Senior Travis Test enters the 2005-06 season as the starting point guard. Test, who missed the last two games last season due to an injury, averaged 8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game over the last four games he played in last year. Included in that total was a career-high 14 points in a loss at Metro State.

LESS IS NOT MOHR: Sophomore forward Ben Mohr returns after earning RMAC Freshman of the Year honors last season. It marked the third time in the last four seasons that a player from CSM had won the award. Mohr, who missed the last three games last season, averaged 13.4 points 7.2 rebounds per game over the last five games he played. He scored a career-best 21 points in a loss at Neb.-Kearney.

IF I COULD BE LIKE RYK: Junior guard Franklin Ryk is the top returning scorer for CSM. He averaged 8.3 points per game last season, including a career-high 21 in the 2004-05 season opening win over Johnson and Wales.

HE’S NOT ALLEN, BUT: Junior forward Davey Iverson is back for his third year at CSM. The 6-foot-6 Iverson has played in all 55 games during his career and has averaged 6.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He started all but one game as a freshman and came off the bench in all but one game last season.

WE WANT MOORES: Junior center Clayton Moores is back for his third season. Over the first two years, he has been one of the top shot blockers in the RMAC with 54 total.

LOOKS GOOD ON “PAPE”R: Freshman guard Kyle Pape joins the Oredigger program as the Gatorade Player of the Year from Hawaii. Pape averaged 20.2 points and helped lead Iolani High School to a fourth straight State Title last season by scoring 93 points in three state tournament wins.

HELP FROM THE NORTHWEST: Junior center Ian Elseth will be welcomed to the program after playing at Snow Junior College last season and at Oregon State in 2001-02. He averaged 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds last season and started four of the 23 games he played in at OSU when he averaged 1.0 point and 0.7 rebounds per game. In high school, Elseth was named to the All-State First Team along with former Arizona standout Salim Stoudamire, currently with the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, and furture Kansas stars Aaron Miles and Michael Lee. Miles is currently playing with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.

THE AUSTRALIAN DUO: The CSM roster features a pair of student-athletes from Australia. Sophomore guard Alex Hayman is from Sydney, while freshman guard Troy Sandley is from Eltham.

STARTING TEAM USA: The five probable starters for CSM all hail from different states; Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Montana and Oregon