Colorado School of Mines vs. New Mexico Highlands
Friday, December 15, 2006 - 8:00 pm
Golden, Colo. - Volk Gym

Colorado School of Mines vs. Western New Mexico
Saturday, December 16, 2006 - 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 64-80, including a 38-58 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 11.0 3.5 2.2
23 Franklin Ryk G 6-4 Sr. Fort Collins, Colo. 12.8 2.5 2.8
33 Clayton Moores F 6-8 Sr. Denver, Colo. 7.2 8.2 1.0
44 Ian Elseth C 6-8 Sr. Grants Pass, Ore. 1.0 3.0 2.0
52 Davey Iverson F 6-6 Sr. Winnett, Mont. 7.8 3.7 1.0

No. Off the Bench Pos Ht. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG APG
5 Casey O’Hayre G 5-11 So. Littleton, Colo. 5.5 1.3 2.3
10 Robert Trujillo G 5-9 Fr. Denver, Colo. 3.0 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. 1.2 0.8 0.4
31 Grant Gunhus G 6-3 So. Fargo, N.D. 9.0 2.3 0.7
32 Cody Clickner F 6-8 So. Westminster, Colo. 5.0 1.5 0.0
42 Ben Mohr C 6-6 Jr. Colo. Springs, Colo. 6.5 4.8 2.2
55 Danny Iverson C 6-9 So. Winnett, Mont. 0.8 0.8 0.3

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 be off for the holidays until a Dec. 29 game against Texas A&M Commerce at Metro State at 5:00 pm. CSM will host St. Francis at 6:00 pm the next night.

LAST WEEK: CSM fell at Western State, 61-46, in the RMAC opener for both teams. Sophomore guard Kyle Pape tallied a team-best 14 points as he was the lone Oredigger to reach double digits. Sophomore guard Casey O’Hayre added nine points and two assists.

ABOUT N.M. HIGHLANDS: The Cowboys enter the week at 1-7 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC. Last weekend, NMHU knocked off Chadron State, 104-96, in overtime and fell to Nebraska-Kearney, 97-60. Stephen Shanks leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). Anthony Fuller posts 11.6 points per game, while Leo Ural averages 8.9 points and has a team-best 22 assists this season.

ABOUT WESTERN N.M.: The Mustangs are 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC following last weekend’s split at home. WNMU fell to Nebraska-Kearney, 76-62, but knocked off Chadron State, 97-84, in overtime. Trey Clarkson leads the squad in scoring (14.1 ppg) and has a team-best 25 assists and 11 steals. Jason Jackson and Casey Crevelone average 11.9 points each, while Kris Taylor leads the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg).

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 is averaging 11.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this season. He ranks third in the conference in minutes played per game this year (34.5 mpg).

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 of the season. Ryk is currently leading the team and ranks 20th in the RMAC in scoring (12.8 ppg). Ryk has missed the last three games due to an injury.

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 made his first appearance of the season on Thursday at Western State and finished with one point, three rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.

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 fourth in the RMAC in blocked shots (1.2 bpg).

GIVE US MOORES: Senior forward Clayton Moores has had a strong start to the season as he is posting 7.4 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game, which ranks third in the RMAC. He has two 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 (1.3 bpg).

AND EVEN MOHR: Junior forward Ben Mohr is averaging 6.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in six games this season. Mohr is returning to form 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 23 minutes per game off the bench this year, Gunhus is averaging 9.0 points per game and is shooting 42 percent (10-24) from three-point land. In a Dec. 1 win over S.D. Tech, Gunhus scored a career-high 17 points, all of which came in the second half. Last year, he averaged 2.0 points in just six minutes per contest.

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. He is averaging 5.5 points and 1.3 rebounds leads the team with 14 assists and nine steals.

SOMETHING CLICKED: Sophomore forward Cody Clickner was called upon during the Dec. 1 win over South Dakota Tech night due to foul trouble to several CSM big men and he responded in a big way. Clickner, who played six minutes off the bench, scored a career-high 10 points and added a career-best three rebounds. He hit 2-of-3 from three-point range and nailed both his free throws.

DIGGER “D”: The Orediggers have played some stout defense to open the season. The squad ranks first in the RMAC in scoring defense (60.2 ppg), first in blocked shots (25) and third in opponent field goal percentage (.414).