Colorado School of Mines vs. Colorado Christian
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 8:00 pm
Golden, Colo. - Volk Gym

Colorado School of Mines vs.Metro State
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 8:00 pm
Golden, Colo. - Volk Gym

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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 75-88, including a 46-66 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 14.4 3.4 3.0
23 Franklin Ryk G 6-4 Sr. Fort Collins, Colo. 10.8 3.9 2.2
31 Grant Gunhus G 6-3 So. Fargo, N.D. 7.2 2.0 1.1
44 Ian Elseth F 6-8 Sr. Grants Pass, Ore. 14.1 6.1 0.6
52 Davey Iverson F 6-6 Sr. Winnett, Mont. 6.1 4.0 1.7

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Casey O’Hayre G 5-11 So. Littleton, Colo. 4.2 1.5 2.3
10 Robert Trujillo G 5-9 Fr. Denver, Colo. 1.2 0.4 0.7
22 Garrett Mehl G 6-2 Sr. Crete, Neb. 1.5 1.1 0.9
33 Clayton Moores F 6-8 Sr. Denver, Colo. 5.5 6.4 0.9
42 Ben Mohr C 6-6 Jr. Colo. Springs, Colo. 5.3 3.9 1.5
55 Danny Iverson C 6-9 So. Winnett, Mont. 0.7 1.3 0.1

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. CSM was followed by Regis, Colorado Christian, Chadron State and UC-Colorado Springs.

UP NEXT: CSM will conclude the regular season with a pair of home games. On Feb. 23, CSM will host Colorado Christian. The next night, the Orediggers will host Metro State. Both games are slated for 8:00 pm.

LAST WEEK: CSM dropped a pair of road games over the weekend. On Thursday, CSM fell at Nebraska-Kearney, 88-67, before losing a controversial game at Chadron State, 76-71, on Saturday night in which video evidence shows the Eagles were given three points during a timeout. Senior forward Ian Elseth posted 29 points and eight boards in the loss to Chadron State.

ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN: CCU is 12-13 overall (7-10 RMAC) and hosts Metro State on Tuesday night. Brian Stamer leads the team in scoring (20.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg). He is fourth in the RMAC in scoring and tops in rebounding. Jordan Long (11.3 ppg) and Peter Bailey (11.1 ppg) also score in double digits. As a team, CCU shoots 47 percent from the floor, 39 percent from three-point land and 69 percent at the foul line.

ABOUT METRO STATE: The Roadrunners (22-3, 15-2 RMAC) were ranked fourth in the country last week and defeated Chadron State, but lost at Nebraska-Kearney. Michael Bahl leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), while Marquise Carrington adds 12.2 points and has dished out a team-best 126 assists. Jesse Wagstaff posts 10.6 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. As a team, Metro shoots 49 percent from the field, 72 percent at the free throw line and 44 percent from three-point land.

THE STYLIN’ HAWAIIAN: Sophomore guard and Hawaii native Kyle Pape was named to the Preseason All-RMAC East Division Team after earning RMAC Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention All-RMAC East Division accolades last season. Pape scored a career-high 36 points in a Dec. 15 win over New Mexico Highlands, including 27 in the second half. He ranks 13th in the RMAC in scoring (14.4 ppg), sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.5), third in minutes (34.3 mpg), 12th in assists (3.0 apg) and 13th in free throw percentage (.776).

BE LIKE RYK: Senior guard Franklin Ryk has picked up just as he finished the 2005-06 season when he averaged 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over the final 10 games. Ryk, who scored a season-best 21 points in a Dec. 16 win over Western New Mexico, is third on the team in scoring (10.8 ppg). He grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win at UC-Colorado Springs.

IN THE PAINT: Senior forward Ian Elseth is once again be counted on to score in the paint. Elseth, who missed the first five games due to injury, made his first appearance of the season on Dec. 7 at Western State. He has scored in double digits in 14 of the his 19 games, including a career-high 29 points in a Feb. 10 loss at Chadron State.

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. Davey ranks ninth in the RMAC in blocked shots (0.8 bpg).

GIVE US MOORES: Senior forward Clayton Moores has had a strong season as he is posting 5.5 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the RMAC. He has three double digit rebounding games, including a career-high tying 13 in the season opening win over Northwest Nazarene. Moores is also third in the conference in blocked shots (1.2 bpg).

AND EVEN MOHR: Junior forward Ben Mohr is averaging 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in 24 games. Mohr is back to 100 percent after missing the final nine regular season games last year and returning for the two RMAC Tournament games.

GRANT THE GUNNER: Sophomore guard Grant Gunhus has picked up his game from a year ago. In 20 minutes per game off the bench this year (he has made nine starts), Gunhus is averaging 7.2 points per game and is shooting 36 percent from three-point land (36-100). Over the last seven games, six of which were starts, Gunhus is averaging 9.0 points, including a career-high 19 in a win over UCCS on Feb. 2.

OUT OF THE PADS, ONTO THE COURT: Senior guard Garrett Mehl, the starting quarterback of the CSM football team in 2006, is 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 to go with 846 rush yards and 14 more touchdowns.

CASEY ON THE COURT: Sophomore guard Casey O’Hayre has been solid since being pulled out of his redshirt year nine games into last season. O’Hayre, who scored a career-high 15 points in a Jan. 5 loss at Fort Lewis, is second on the team with 57 assists and 23 steals. In a Jan. 26th win over Chadron State (59-58), O’Hayre converted the game-winning layup with one second on the clock.

DIGGER “D”: The Orediggers have played some stout defense this season. The squad ranks first in the RMAC in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and blocked shots (3.4 bpg) and fourth in opponent field goal percentage (.443). CSM has allowed just seven teams to break 70 points in a game this year, but has won three of those games.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSM’s loss to CSU-Pueblo on Jan. 12 was the first home loss this season. CSM is now 11-2 at home this season following a Jan. 27 loss to Nebraska-Kearney. Two years ago, CSM was 15-1 at home. Overall, CSM has won 34 of its last 42 games in Volk Gym. In contrast, CSM is just 2-8 on the road this year, but both wins came last weekend at Regis and UC-Colorado Springs.

GOTTA GET 70: The number 70 appears to be a good luck charm on the scoreboard for CSM. The Orediggers are 11-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points and just 3-10 when held under 70 points.

SHARE THE WEALTH: Another telling stat in the win/loss column is sharing the ball. CSM is 13-2 this year when three or more players score in double digits and just 1-9 when two or less players score at least 10 points. The first two losses came two weeks ago at Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State.