GOLDEN, Colo. - #11 Colorado School of Mines stunned West Texas A&M with a monster defensive effort, advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history with an 88-63 win.

NCAA South Central regional most outstanding player Gokul Natesan became the fourth player in program history to score 2,000 points as he compiled a double-double of 13 points and 12 assists. Luke Schroepfer shot 9-for-10 for 23 points to lead all scorers. Mines lifted the South Central championship trophy for the first time.

Mines (30-4) will play in the Elite Eight next Wednesday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. They will learn their opponent on Wednesday afternoon after the completion of the East regional final, which was postponed to a blizzard there; the remaining eight teams are reseeded by the selection committee.

It was a stunning start by Mines to take West Texas A&M out of the game early. The Orediggers began the game on an 11-2 run, holding the Buffs (26-9) scoreless for a 6:30 period early in the half.

WT hung in and used a 7-0 run to cut the Mines lead to four with five minutes to go in the first half, but the Orediggers shut the door quickly. Ben Sonnefeld scored six consecutive points for Mines before Murphy Gershman and Natesan hit free throws, and Natesan's buzzer-beater three-pointer at the half put Mines up 34-23.

The Orediggers really hit the gas coming out of the break, beginning the second on a 16-5 run that put the game out of reach. Schroepfer scored 10 of his 23 in tht span to give Mines a 50-28 lead at the 15:03 mark. It was all Mines from there as a thunderous crowd saw Natesan score his 2,000th point late in the game on a pair of free throws, and the reserves got some time including a pair of Felix Scheytt dunks to punctuate the win.

NOTABLES
- It will be Mines' first trip to the Elite Eight. The 2011-12 team was the only other to appear in the Sweet 16.
- Mines set the program record for wins in a season, snapping the 29-game record set by the 2011-12 team.
- Natesan's 12 assists were a career-high. He added three steals, a block, and three rebounds to his night; it was his second career double-double and first since the 2013-14 season as a freshman.
- More importantly, Natesan shut down WT guard David Chavlovich, who joined Natesan on the D2CCA First-Team All-Region team. Averaging more than 20 points a game, Chavlovich was held to 10 points (4 in the first half) and nine shots.
- Natesan is the fourth player in Mines history to score 2,000 points. His 13 points put him exactly on the mark heading into the Elite Eight.
- One of the highest-scoring teams in the nation, WT was held to its second-lowest point total of the season. The Buffs shot 35.6 percent overall to Mines' 58.6 percent; Mines also outrebounded them 39-30.
- Mines got 10 points from Sonnefeld, who was 5-for-6 with four assists, and eight points off the bench from Ben Clare. Adam Laine got his second straight start and center and had four points, five boards, and two blocks but was saddled with foul trouble in the first half.
- Natesan and Schroepfer were joined on the all-tournament team by WT's Ryan Quaid and David Chavlovich and Texas A&M-Kingsville's Trey Sumpter.
- Eric Golightly led the Buffs with 20 points.

QUOTABLES
"Defensively, we just came to play. It was over, it was lock-down city, and Gokul set the tone right away. The energy and toughness was spot-on." - head coach Pryor Orser on Mines' defensive performance.

"You get in the zone sometimes and just know that if you get space and get rhythm, it's going to go in no matter what." - Schroepfer on his hot 7-for-7 start.

"That was the best moment of my college career. All the things that happened today and throughout this season - us winning the RMAC championship, the RMAC Tournament, hosting the region - and with the game basically out of reach and knowing you're going to win and then to get 2,000... it was incredible." - Natesan on reach 2,000 career points

"Hey, somebody's got to win it, it might as well be us." - Orser on Mines heading to the Elite Eight.