Colorado School of Mines vs. Northwest Nazarene
Friday, November 17, 2006 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

Colorado School of Mines vs. Caldwell College
Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 8:00 pm
Volk Gymnasium - Golden, Colo.

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THE HEAD COACH: Pryor Orser is in his sixth year as the head coach of the Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team. He claims an overall record of 61-77, including a 38-57 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games. Last season, Orser led the Orediggers to a 15-14 record and a berth in the semifinals of the RMAC Shootout. for the first time since 1996. CSM’s win at Fort Lewis in the quarterfinals marked the first Oredigger win in the tournament since 1996. It was also the third time in the last four years that Orser led CSM to the RMAC Shootout Tournament. Orser has coached a total of 14 All-Conference players at CSM, including four Freshmen of the Year, most recently Kyle Pape a season ago. In addition, he has coached an All-Region and All-American player in Stephen Bahl. 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
3 Kyle Pape G 6-2 So. Iolani, Hawaii 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 Franklin Ryk G 6-4 Sr. Fort Collins, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Clayton Moores F 6-8 Sr. Denver, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
42 Ben Mohr C 6-6 Jr. Colo. Springs, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
52 Davey Iverson F 6-6 Sr. Winnett, Mont. 0.0 0.0 0.0

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Casey O’Hayre G 5-11 So. Littleton, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
10 Robert Trujillo G 5-9 Fr. Denver, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
20 Garrett Page G 6-2 Fr. Canton, Ill. 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 Garrett Mehl G 6-2 Sr. Crete, Neb. 0.0 0.0 0.0
31 Grant Gunhus G 6-3 So. Fargo, N.D. 0.0 0.0 0.0
32 Cody Clickner F 6-8 So. Westminster, Colo. 0.0 0.0 0.0
44 Ian Elseth F 6-8 Sr. Grants Pass, Ore. 0.0 0.0 0.0
55 Danny Iverson C 6-9 So. Winnett, Mont. 0.0 0.0 0.0

CSM PICKED THIRD IN RMAC PRESEASON POLL: The Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team was picked third in the 2006-07 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball East Division Preseason Poll. The Orediggers received 41 total points to finish behind East Division favorite Nebraska-Kearney and runner-up Metro State. UNK received 13 first place votes and 13 total points, while Metro garnered the other first place vote and 28 total points. Regis finished fourth with 57 points and was followed by Colorado Christian (69), Chadron State (72) and UC-Colorado Springs (83).

PAPE NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-RMAC EAST TEAM: Sophomore guard Kyle Pape was one of five players selected to the Preseason All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference East Division Team. He was joined on the team by Dusty Jura, the Preseason RMAC Player of the Year from Nebraska-Kearney, Brian Stamer of Colorado Christian, Patrick Hannaway from UC-Colorado Springs and Metro State’s Michael Bahl.

UP NEXT: CSM will return to action next week with a pair of games in Kansas at the Pittsburg State Classic. The Orediggers will play Missouri Southern at 5:00 pm on Nov. 24 and will take on Pitt State at 7:00 pm the following night.

LAST TIME OUT (3/4/05): The seventh-seeded Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 74-61 setback to third-seeded Nebraska-Kearney in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference SHOOTOUT semifinals at the Colorado State Fair and Events Center. CSM was led by guard Kyle Pape who scored 20 points and added four assists, while guard Franklin Ryk added 19 points and seven boards for the Orediggers.

ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE: The Eagles are coming off a 12-15 season, but did average 84.1 points per game. Marcus Clift averaged 10.2 points per game last season and is the top returning scorer from last year. Tim Ireland is also back after averaging 10.1 points per night. The Eagles shot 47 percent from the field, 37 percent from three-point land and 75 percent from the free throw line last year.

ABOUT CALDWELL COLLEGE: The Cougars are coming of a season in which they posted an 18-13 mark. Jean George is back after leading the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game. In addition, Manny Perez returns after posting 16.1 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game last season. As a team, Caldwell shot 44 percent from the field, 37 percent from three point land and 73 percent at the charity stripe.

PAPE BACK FOR YEAR TWO: Sophomore guard Kyle Pape returns to the squad after earning RMAC Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors last season. In addition, he was named to the Division II Bulletin All-Freshman Team. Last season, he led the team in scoring 11 times and had a string of five straight games with at least 20 points.

BE LIKE RYK: Senior guard Franklin Ryk will be playing his final season in a CSM uniform this season. He is coming off a season in which he averaged career bests in points (10.9 ppg) and rebounds (8.3 rpg). Over the final 10 games of the season, Ryk averaged 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Included in that total was a career high of 26 points in a win over Regis on Feb. 24.

IN THE PAINT: Senior forward Ian Elseth will once again be counted on to control the paint. Last season, he led the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and posted a season-best 12 rebounds in a win over Chadron State on Jan. 28.

OUT OF THE PADS, ONTO THE COURT: Senior guard Garrett Mehl, the starting quarterback of the CSM football team this past season, will be part of the basketball team for the first time in his career. Mehl finished his football career with 3,057 passing yards and 18 touchdowns and 846 rushing yards and 14 more scores.

FAMILY TIES: Senior forward Davey Iverson is the older brother of sophomore center Danny Iverson. Davey is a three-year letterwinner at CSM, while Danny is coming of a season in which he redshirted.

MOHR AND MOORES: Both senior forward Clayton Moores and junior center Ben Mohr are back for CSM. Moores is coming off his best season in which he averaged 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, including a double-double effort of 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 45 minutes in a 69-65 overtime win at Metro State. The win snapped Metro’s 47-game home win streak. Mohr, the 2004-05 RMAC Freshman of the Year, fought injuries last season and missed 12 games.