Colorado School of Mines vs. Fort Lewis
Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. Adams State
Saturday, December 17, 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 51-66, including a 30-48 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games. In 2004-05, Orser 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. 10.1 2.3 4.5
3 Kyle Pape SG 6-2 Fr. Honolulu, Hawaii 8.4 2.5 1.8
23 Franklin Ryk SF 6-4 Jr. Fort Collins, Colo. 10.3 4.9 1.1
52 Davey Iverson PF 6-6 Jr. Winnett, Mont. 6.3 5.6 1.4
44 Ian Elseth C 6-8 Jr. Grants Pass, Ore. 11.3 6.1 1.8

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
11 Troy Sandley G 6-4 Fr. Eltham, Austrailia 1.6 0.4 0.2
20 Alex Hayman G 6-4 So. Sydney, Austrailia 3.5 1.6 0.8
22 Bill Hadley G 6-0 Sr. Littleton, Colo. 1.8 1.0 1.0
30 Matt Witwer F 6-5 So. Minot, N.D. 0.7 0.3 0.3
31 Grant Gunhus G 6-3 Fr. Fargo, N.D. 1.6 1.4 0.1
32 Ryan McKay F 6-8 So. Halstead, Kan. 0.4 0.4 0.4
33 Clayton Moores C 6-8 Jr. Denver, Colo. 5.4 3.4 0.8
40 Cody Clickner F 6-8 RFR Denver, Colo. 0.5 1.0 0.0
42 Ben Mohr F 6-6 So. Colo. Springs, Colo. 8.1 4.3 1.5

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 be off for 12 days for the holiday season before returning to action on Dec. 29-30. On the 29th, CSM will play at Metro State at 5:00 pm against the University of Mary before hosting North Dakota in Volk Gym on the 30th at 7:00 pm.

LAST WEEK: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team split a pair of road games to open the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference portion of its schedule. On Friday night, CSM fell at Mesa State, 69-50, but rebounded on Saturday to win at Western State, 68-52.

AGAINST MESA STATE: CSM fell behind to Mesa State at the half, 34-25, and lost, 69-50, on Friday night. Freshman guard Kyle Pape led the Orediggers with 11 points, while sophomore forward Ben Mohr added 10 points and seven rebounds.

AGAINST WESTERN STATE: Junior center Ian Elseth tallied 22 points and four rebounds to lead CSM to a 68-52 win at Western State on Saturday night. Senior guard Travis Test added a career-high 16 points and six assists, while junior forward Davey Iverson recorded eight points and 10 rebounds.

ABOUT FORT LEWIS: The Skyhawks enter the week at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play after home wins over Regis (68-65) and Metro State (67-64) over the weekend. Ryan Johnson totaled 47 points in the two wins. Tim Bieri leads the team in scoring (18.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg), while Johnson is posting 13.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per night. As a team, FLC is shooting 48 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point land and 68 percent from the free throw line.

LAST YEAR vs. FORT LEWIS: CSM dropped a pair of games at Fort Lewis last season. The Skyhawks handed CSM an 82-73 loss in Durango on Dec. 18 and also defeated the Orediggers in the RMAC Tournament Quarterfinals, 75-42, on Mar. 2.

ABOUT ADAMS STATE: The Grizzlies stand at 4-2 overall and 2-0 in RMAC place following home wins over Metro State (67-59) and Regis (64-59) over the weekend. Roman Moniak led the win over Metro with 17 points and five boards, while Phil Brown scored 17 in Saturday’s win against Regis. Greg Baker is leading the team at 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this year, while Moniak adds 12.8 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. As a team, ASC shoots 46 percent from the floor, 32 percent from three-point land and 53 percent from the charity stripe.

LAST YEAR vs. ADAMS STATE: CSM handed Adams State an 82-74 setback at Plachy Hall behind 40 points from Stephen Bahl. It would be the lone road win of the 2004-05 season for CSM.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSM has been close to unbeatable at home recently as it is 19-1 over its last 20 games in Volk Gymnasium. CSM was 15-1 at home last year and is a perfect 4-0 this season. The Orediggers have won seven straight at home overall. The last time CSM lost at home was Feb. 5, 2005, a 98-91 overtime loss to Nebraska-Kearney.

ROAD WOES: In contrast, CSM has not fared as well on the road as it is just 2-12 over its last 14 road games. CSM broke a 10 game road losing streak with a 68-52 win at Western State on Saturday night. Prior to that win, the Orediggers had not won on the road since Dec. 20, 2004, an 82-74 win at Adams State.

BATTLE TESTED: Senior point guard Travis Test has been very productive in running the show for CSM this season as he is third on the team at 10.1 points per game and has dished out a team-best 36 assists compared to only 14 turnovers. Test has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, including a career high 16 points in Saturday’s win at Western 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 as Mohr joined Stephen Bahl (2001-02) and Kevin Wagstaff (2002-03). Mohr is providing a spark off the CSM bench this season averaging 8.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per night.

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. This season, Ryk is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game. He has missed out on his first career double-double on two occasions this season as he came up a rebound short each time.

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 63 games during his career and has averaged 6.8 points and 5.8 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 seven of the eight games this season. Iverson leads the team and the RMAC with 1.88 blocked shots per game (15 total) and tallied

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.

LOOKS GOOD ON “PAPE”R: Freshman guard Kyle Pape has made big strides early in the season. After scoring just 18 points in the first four games, Pape is averaging 12.3 points over the last four games, including three in double figures. In addition, he is posting 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game during the four game stretch.

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 (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg) this season. He missed his first career double double with 24 points and nine boards in a Nov. 26 loss at No. 4 Western Washington. Elseth is second in the RMAC in field goal percentage (.653) this season as he has hit 32-of-49 shots.

GOOD COMPANY: In high school, Elseth was named to the Oregon All-State First Team along with former Arizona standout Salim Stoudamire, currently with the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, and former 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.