GOLDEN – The Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will look to get back into the win column this weekend when the squad takes on Black Hills State and Chadron State on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in a pair of road contests.
Friday's game with Black Hills State will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday's matchup at Chadron State will begin at 8 p.m.
Mines (11-10, 8-9 RMAC) finds itself with a conference record under .500 for the first time since the squad sat 1-2 in league play following a 91-70 loss to Western New Mexico on December 10, 2009. The squad suffered a 74-58 loss to No. 1 Metro State on Friday/Sunday and a 74-67 loss to Regis on Saturday last weekend.
The Orediggers are currently in a four-way tie for sixth in the RMAC standings, with the top eight teams qualifying for the RMAC Tournament.
Junior Luke Meisch leads the team with an average of 17.0 points per game while sitting second on the team with 8.2 rebounds per game. Those numbers currently place him third in the conference in scoring and fifth in the league in rebounds. The Wichita, Kan., native has posted seven consecutive games with 18 or more points, including a career-high 31 in a 94-85 win over Western State on Feb. 2 in Golden. That game, Meisch finished 18-of-19 from the foul line to help Mines set a new RMAC record for free throws made (51, 51-of-55) in a game.
Trevor Wages follows Meisch on the stat sheet with 16.3 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game. Wages' is currently seventh in the RMAC in scoring and sits second in rebounds. The Littleton product is also third in the conference with a 55.2 shooting percentage from the floor in 2012-13.
Sophomore Brian Muller is the other Oredigger currently averaging double figures for scoring with 15.4 points per game. He is currently second in the league with an 87.9 free throw percentage, including a school-record 16-of-16 effort in the Orediggers' win over Western State on Feb. 2.
Black Hills State (5-16, 4-13 RMAC) has been officially eliminated from RMAC Tournament consideration with a 4-13 conference record, but the squad took Mines the distance in the first matchup on December 8 after pulling off two separate 20-point comebacks before falling 69-64. Brady Bisgaard led the team with 19 points and eight assists in the first matchup and Tanner Adler led the squad with eight rebounds.
Wages led Mines in the matchup with 26 points and 21 rebounds, including 20 points and 12 rebounds in the second half alone.
Chadron State (2-19, 2-15 RMAC) is currently 14th in the league standings with a 2-15 conference mark and has also been eliminated from the RMAC Tournament. Mines needed to overcome a 19-point deficit in the first matchup between the two schools to pull off a 72-67 victory. Zac Bargen led CSC with 19 points and Justyn Anderson added seven rebounds to pace the squad.
Wages and Meisch led Mines with twin 20-point efforts, including a combined 25 points and 10 rebounds in the second half to erase a 16-point halftime deficit.
