Colorado School of Mines vs. Missouri Southern
Friday, November 24, 2006 - 5:00 pm
Pittsburg, Kan.

Colorado School of Mines at Pittsburg State
Saturday, November 25, 2006 - 7:00 pm
Pittsburg, Kan.

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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 63-77, 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 14.0 4.0 1.5
23 Franklin Ryk G 6-4 Sr. Fort Collins, Colo. 11.0 3.0 2.0
33 Clayton Moores F 6-8 Sr. Denver, Colo. 7.5 10.0 1.5
42 Ben Mohr C 6-6 Jr. Colo. Springs, Colo. 12.5 5.0 3.0
52 Davey Iverson F 6-6 Sr. Winnett, Mont. 12.5 5.0 2.0

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Casey O’Hayre G 5-11 So. Littleton, Colo. 3.5 2.0 3.0
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. 6.0 2.0 1.0
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 1.0 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 on Wednesday night with an exhibition game at Division I Wyoming at 7:00 pm. Next Friday, the Orediggers will host South Dakota Tech at 7:00 pm.

LAST WEEK: CSM opened the 2006-07 season with a pair of wins at the Colorado School of Mines Classic. On Friday night, the Orediggers knocked off Northwest Nazarene, 75-63, behind 18 points and seven rebounds from junior center Ben Mohr. On Saturday, CSM handed Caldwell College (N.J.) a 59-51 loss as sophomore guard Kyle Pape posted 16 points and four rebounds. Pape averaged 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in the two games.

ABOUT MISSOURI SOUTHERN: The Lions enter the week at 3-0 overall, including a 75-70 win over 22nd-ranked West Texas A&M on Saturday. T.J. Britton leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg), while Stanley Titsworth also posts 12.3 points per game. Tyler Ryerson averages 8.0 points per game and has dished out a team-high 18 assists.

ABOUT PITTSBURG STATE: The Gorillas begin the week at 2-0 overall with wins over #22 West Texas A&M and Central Bible College. Ed Morris leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg), while Joe Bridges averages 8.5 points per game and leads the team with seven assists.

THE STYLIN’ HAWAIIAN: Sophomore guard and Hawaii native Kyle Pape got off to a strong start over the weekend. He averaged 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in the two CSM wins and shot 46 percent (10-22) from the field.

BE LIKE RYK: Senior guard Franklin Ryk finished the 2005-06 season strong as he averaged averaged 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over the final 10 games of the season. 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. Elseth missed the first two games due to injury.

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 opened the season with strong performances. Moores averaged 7.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, including 13 boards in the win over Caldwell. Mohr, who missed 12 games last year due to injury, averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in the two wins.

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.

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, the backup point guard, tallied a team-best four steals and tied for team-high honors with six assists over the weekend. He also averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 24 minutes.

TWO STEP: CSM has opened the season 2-0 for the third straight year. The Orediggers will be looking for their first 3-0 start since the 2004-05 season.