GOLDEN – The Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will open up 2013 with a pair of road matchups at Western State and Colorado Mesa on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with both start times scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Orediggers (7-2, 4-1 RMAC) enter the weekend riding a four-game winning streak after opening the conference slate with a loss on November 31 at Western New Mexico. Since that defeat, the two-time defending RMAC Champions have rattled off wins over New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State, Black Hills State and Colorado Christian, respectively.
Junior Trevor Wages, a three-time RMAC Player of the Week this season, currently leads the team and the conference with an average of 19.6 points per game – a figure that places him 39th nationally for the category. Wages also leads the team in rebounds (11.7 per game) and sits second in the conference and third nationally for the category.
Following Wages on the stat sheet is sophomore Brian Muller and junior Luke Meisch, who have knocked in points at clips of 16.4 and 15.6 per game, respectively, placing them sixth and seventh in the RMAC. Meisch is sixth in the league and second on the team with an average of 8.2 rebounds per contest, while Muller sits tied for third in the conference with an 87.5 shooting average from the charity stripe.
The Orediggers are third in the conference with an average of 79.7 points per game, led primarily by the league's second-best team shooting percentage (49.7 percent). The squad is also currently second in the conference with a plus-3.2 rebounding margin.
Western State (5-5, 4-2 RMAC) enters Friday's matchup having lost two-straight games after opening the conference slate with a 4-0 record. The Mountaineers lost to Adams State (101-76) and Fort Lewis (73-70) in their last two matchups on December 16-17. The squad is led by Terrence Boyd, who leads the team with an average of 16.9 points per game, while Travis Shepherd (14.0) and Charles Joseph (13.1) follow in scoring. Joseph leads the team with an average of 9.2 rebounds per game and Boyd and Shepherd follow with averages of 7.6 and 4.4, respectively.
Colorado Mesa (7-3, 4-2 RMAC) has had the same conference arc as WSCU after opening the conference schedule with a 4-0 record before suffering two-straight defeats in its last weekend of action. The Mavericks fell to Fort Lewis by a 71-61 final and Adams State by a score of 84-79 during their last action before the break. Colton Burgon leads the team with an average of 17.7 points per game, while Jeff Hart and Mike Melillo follow with averages of 11.6 and 11.0 points per game, respectively.
