Colorado School of Mines vs. Bethany Lutheran
Friday, December 2, 2005 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. Gwynedd Mercy
Saturday, December 3, 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 48-65, 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. 8.3 2.3 4.0
3 Kyle Pape SG 6-2 Fr. Honolulu, Hawaii 4.5 2.0 2.3
23 Franklin Ryk SF 6-4 Jr. Fort Collins, Colo. 9.5 5.3 1.3
52 Davey Iverson PF 6-6 Jr. Winnett, Mont. 5.3 4.8 0.5
44 Ian Elseth C 6-8 Jr. Grants Pass, Ore. 12.5 6.5 2.0

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
11 Troy Sandley G 6-4 Fr. Eltham, Austrailia 6.0 2.0 0.0
20 Alex Hayman G 6-4 So. Sydney, Austrailia 2.8 1.3 0.0
22 Bill Hadley G 6-0 Sr. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 0.0 1.0
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. 2.0 1.5 0.3
32 Ryan McKay F 6-8 So. Halstead, Kan. 0.0 0.0 1.0
33 Clayton Moores C 6-8 Jr. Denver, Colo. 5.0 3.3 1.3
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. 7.8 4.5 2.0

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 as it will open conference play in the RMAC. On Friday, the Orediggers will play at Mesa State and on Saturday at Western State. Tipoff for both games is 8:00 pm.

LAST WEEK: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team dropped a pair of games at the Western Washington/Chuck Randall Classic. CSM lost to St. Martin’s, 65-63, on Friday, before falling to fourth-ranked Western Washington, 100-66, on Saturday night.

AGAINST ST. MARTIN’S: CSM led, 33-32, at halftime, but St. Martin’s gained a 55-45 lead with 7:13 to play in the game. However, the Orediggers were able to respond and tied the game two times in the final three minutes. Jake Linton then hit two free throws with 24.4 seconds left to put St. Martin’s up 64-62. CSM junior forward Davey Iverson was then fouled with 10 seconds to play and hit one of two free throws. Linton then split another pair of foul shots to give his squad the final points of the game. CSM was led by junior guard Franklin Ryk who posted game highs of 18 points and nine rebounds.

AGAINST WESTERN WASHINGTON: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team fell at fourth-ranked Western Washington, 100-66, on Saturday night in the second day of the Western Washington University/Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Men’s Basketball Classic on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium. CSM was led by junior center Ian Elseth who totaled 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists. For his efforts, Elseth was named to the All-Tournament Team.

ABOUT BETHANY LUTHERAN: After opening the season with an 80-74 win over St. Mary’s, BLC has dropped three straight and stands at 1-3 overall. The Vikings average 68.5 points per game and give up 88.5 points per game. Alfonso Mayfield leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game and chips in 5.0 rebounds. Dewan Grant posts 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per night, while Travis Priem averages 7.0 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game.

ABOUT GWYNEDD MERCY: The Griffins have lost four straight to open the 2005-06 season, including a 78-72 setback to Rowan on Monday night. As a team, GMC is averaging 68.0 points and giving up 78.0 points per game. Anthony Williams is tops on the squad in scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg), while Chris DelBrocco records 12.0 points and 5.5 boards per game.

BATTLE TESTED: Senior point guard Travis Test has been very productive in running the show early in the season for CSM. Through the first four games of the season, he is averaging 8.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Test is also averaging a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio as he has recorded a team-best 16 assists and just seven turnovers. Test, who is playing a team-most 31.3 minutes per game, tied his career-high with five assists in last Friday’s loss to St. Martin’s.

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 in last season. He scored a season most 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Friday’s loss to St. Martin’s and is averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 boards in 21 minutes off the bench.

IF I COULD BE LIKE RYK: Junior guard Franklin Ryk is the top returning scorer for CSM as he averaged 8.3 points per game last season. Ryk just missed recording his first career double-double in Friday’s loss to St. Martin’s as he tallied game highs with 18 points and a career-best nine rebounds.

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 59 games during his career and has averaged 6.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He started all but one game as a freshman, came off the bench in all but one game last season and has started all four games this season. Iverson leads the team with seven blocked shots this season.

WE WANT MOORES: Junior center Clayton Moores is back for his third season. He provided the Orediggers with a spark off the bench in the Nov. 18 win over Nebraska-Omaha with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in 19 minutes. Moores’ four blocked shots are second best on the team.

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, who played at Snow Junior College last season and at Oregon State in 2001-02, is leading the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) this season. He missed his first career double double with 24 points and nine boards in Saturday’s loss at No. 4 Western Washington. 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. Sandley saw his first action of the season in Saturday’s loss at Western Washington. In 17 minutes, he recorded six points on 2-of-4 shooting from three point land.

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

EVEN STEVEN: CSM’s opponents have scored a combined 128 points in both the first and second halves this season. In contrast, CSM has scored 119 first half points and 117 second half points.