Colorado School of Mines vs. University of Mary
Thursday, December 29, 2005 - 5:00 pm
Auraria Events Center - Denver, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. North Dakota
Friday, December 30, 2005 - 7:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE PDF VERSION OF THE NOTES

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 51-68, including a 30-50 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. 9.1 2.5 4.0
3 Kyle Pape SG 6-2 Fr. Honolulu, Hawaii 10.4 3.2 2.3
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. 7.1 5.7 1.4
44 Ian Elseth C 6-8 Jr. Grants Pass, Ore. 11.3 5.8 1.5

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Casey O’Hayre G 5-11 Fr. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 1.0 0.0
11 Troy Sandley G 6-4 Fr. Eltham, Austrailia 1.6 0.4 0.2
20 Alex Hayman G 6-4 So. Sydney, Austrailia 3.1 1.7 0.8
22 Bill Hadley G 6-0 Sr. Littleton, Colo. 1.4 1.0 0.9
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. 1.3 1.2 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. 5.0 3.8 1.1
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. 8.0 3.6 1.4

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: Following the holiday tournament, CSM will play Jan. 5 at New Mexico Highlands and Jan. 7 at CU-Colorado Springs. Both games will tipoff at 8:00 pm.

LAST WEEK: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team dropped home games to Fort Lewis, 63-61 in overtime, and Adams State, 60-55, on Dec. 16-17.

AGAINST FORT LEWIS: CSM trailed by five points (46-41) midway through the second half, but clawed back and knotted the game at 54-54 with 28 seconds to play as sophomore forward Ben Mohr hit 1-of-2 free throws and send it into overtime. CSM took a 60-55 lead with 1:40 to play in overtime, but the Skyhawks ended the game on an 8-1 run. Junior center Ian Elseth scored 15 points and added six rebounds, while freshman guard Kyle Pape tallied 13 points and seven boards.

AGAINST ADAMS STATE: Colorado School of Mines freshman guard Kyle Pape scored a career-high 24 points and added five rebounds, but it was not enough as the Orediggers fell to Adams State, 60-55, on Saturday night. ASC claimed a 10-point lead (42-32) with 13:44 to play, but CSM was able to knot the game at 44-44 with 6:30 left on a pair of free throws from Pape. With the game tied 55-55, ASC’s Roman Moniak hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds to play and after a CSM missed three pointer on the other end, ASC’s Wes Jensen added a pair of free throws with one second left for the final points.

ABOUT UNIV. OF MARY: The University of Mary claims a record of 6-9 after defeating Black Hills State, 61-56, on Dec. 17.

ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA: The Fighting Sioux stand at 7-4 overall after an 80-75 win against Bemidji State on Dec. 17. The win snapped a two-game losing streak. UND has five players averaging double figures, including Evan Lindall who posts a team-best 12.7 points per game. Adam Jacobson averages 11.4 points and 3.3 boards per night, while Caro Nobles posts 10.5 points, a team-high 4.4 rebounds per game and leads the team in assists (39).

HOME SWEET HOME: Despite the recent home losses to Fort Lewis and Adams State, CSM has still been close to unbeatable at home as it is 19-3 over its last 22 games in Volk Gymnasium. CSM was 15-1 at home last year and is 4-2 this season. The Orediggers had won seven straight at home overall prior to the loss against Fort Lewis.

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 Dec. 10. 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 fourth on the team at 9.1 points per game and has dished out a team-best 40 assists compared to only 19 turnovers. Test has scored in double figures in four of the last seven games, including a career high 16 points in a Dec. 10 win at Western State. He is fourth in the RMAC with 4.0 assists per game.

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 8.0 points and 3.6 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. Ryk missed last weekend’s games against Fort Lewis and Adams State due to an injury.

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 65 games during his career and has averaged 6.8 points and 5.9 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 eight of the ten games this season.

WE WANT MOORES: Junior center Clayton Moores is back for his third season. He has given the squad a lift off the bench and in Friday’s loss to Fort Lewis, Moores totaled four points, nine boards and a career-high five assists.

BLOCK PARTY: Juniors Davey Iverson and Clayton Moores are making it tough for opponents to come into the paint as each ranks in the top-5 of the RMAC in blocked shots. Iverson is second with 20 blocks (2.0 bpg), while Moores is fifth with 13 blocked shots (1.3 bpg).

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 14.3 points over the last six games (86 total), including five in double figures. In addition, he is posting 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the four game stretch. Pape scored a career-high 24 points in the Dec. 17 loss to Adams State.

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 (5.8 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 third in the RMAC in field goal percentage (.696) this season as he has hit 37-of-60 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.

CASEY ON THE COURT: Freshman guard Casey O’Hayre made his first appearance of the season in the Dec. 17 loss to Adams State. He was pulled out of his redshirt season and will play the rest of the year.

CLOSE CALLS: CSM has played its share of close games this year, but has also been involved in its share of blowouts. The Orediggers are 4-2 in games decided by 11 points or more and just 1-3 in games decided by five points of less. Three of CSM’s losses have been by a combined nine points.

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