#22 Mines at #11 Fort Lewis, Friday, 7:30 p.m. [TV: ASN/Altitude2/NCAA.com] [Live Video] [Live Stats]
#22 Mines at New Mexico Highlands, Saturday, 7 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

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NCAA GAME OF THE WEEK
Friday's game at Fort Lewis will be produced by American Sports Network as part of the NCAA Division II Game of the Week, and it will air live locally on Altitude 2 and nationally on TUFF TV. The game will also stream live on NCAA.com.

THE RMAC HUNT
The RMAC championship race will come to a head on Friday as second-place Mines travels to first-place #11 Fort Lewis. Friday's game could be a de facto RMAC Championship game as Fort Lewis (17-2 in RMAC play) sits a game ahead of Mines (15-3) for first, with FLC having three games left and Mines four. Both teams control their own destiny in terms of winning at least a share of the regular-season title and hosting the RMAC Tournament; both have already clinched at least a home RMAC Tournament quarterfinal.

IN THE POLLS
Mines moved up three spots to #22 in this week's NABC poll, while Fort Lewis is up one spot to #11 this week.

NONE SHALL PASS
Mines leads the RMAC and ranks 10^th in NCAA Division II allowing only 64.7 points per game. That's nearly four points per game fewer than the RMAC's next-best team, Black Hills State.

OREDIGGERS GARNER ACADEMIC HONORS
Gokul Natesan was selected as CoSIDA Academic All-District and the RMAC Academic Player of the Year in the past week, with the senior guard repeating both honors from last year. In the RMAC honors, Natesan led seven Orediggers on the academic honor teams with Ben Clare, Zach Rusk, Ben Sonnefeld, Murphy Gershman, Luke Golter, and Brandon Lueders being named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll for carrying GPAs over 3.3.

NATESAN ASSAULTS RECORD BOOK
Coming into the weekend, Gokul Natesan is among the Mines career leaders in scoring, assists, steals, free throws, and three-pointers. His 1,827 points ranks sixth, behind Jim Swain (1,884 from 1974-78), while his 361 assists are third, 221 steals are second, 255 three-pointers are third, and 516 free throws are second.

NATESAN MAKES BEVO FRANCIS CUT
For his play this season, Natesan has made the cut as the only RMAC play on the Final 50 Watchlist for the Bevo Francis Award, given to small college basketball's best player. Natesan averages an RMAC-best 19.2 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game shooting .856 at the line as a senior this year.

FROM DOWNTOWN
Luke Schroepfer has not only been one of the RMAC's best three-point shooters this year, he is among the nation's best. Schroepfer has draied 65 of his 136 attempts (.478) ranking 10th in NCAA D-II and first in the RMAC among players with 50+ attempts. In fact, Schroepfer shoots nearly as well from beyond the arc (.478) as from the entire floor (.489); he is also an .803 free throw shooter.

CLARE HAVING BREAKOUT SEASON
Mines' breakout player of the year has inarguably been center Ben Clare, who has taken over a starting role to average 7.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Over the last seven games, however, Clare has been unstoppable, averaging 11.4 points and 9.4 boards per game with three double-doubles in that span.

WHEN WE LAST MET
Mines and Fort Lewis will meet for the first and only time this year. Last year Mines lost 64-53 in Durango and 76-59 at home, as well as 73-72 in the RMAC Tournament final on the road. Mines and NMHU will play for the second time in a month after the Orediggers outlasted the Cowboys 61-58 in Golden on Jan. 17. Gokul Natesan hit the go-ahead layup with 14 seconds remaining and Ben Clare produced an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double.