Mines at Western Colorado, Friday, 7:30 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Mines at Colorado Mesa, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

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THE WEEKEND AHEAD
Colorado School of Mines heads to the Western Slope to visit Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa this weekend. Mines is off to a 1-0 RMAC start as is Colorado Mesa, who beat Western Colorado 97-90 last weekend in the conference opener.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines survived UCCS' comeback attempt to start off RMAC play with an 87-82 road win Saturday night. The Orediggers (4-3, 1-0 RMAC) led by as much as 17 points in the second half, but the Mountain Lions (2-4, 0-1 RMAC) erased it with a huge run to take the game down to the wire. Five Orediggers scored in double figures led by Ben Sonnefeld's 18, and Mason Baker and Ben Clare each drained 17. Brendan Sullivan had 16 while Austin Means had 10 off the bench. Blend Avdili had 18 for UCCS, and Padiet Wang scored 17. Mines hit a late 6-0 stretch with baskets by Clare and Sullivan to retake the lead, 83-79, with 29 seconds to go; Baker iced it at the line in the closing seconds.

NO NO NO
Through seven games, Mines leads the RMAC and is third in NCAA Division II with 6.14 stuffs per game (43 blocks total). Brendan Sullivan and Michael Glen have been the team's top two rim protectors with 11 blocks, with Ben Clare stopping 10 and Austin Means six.

LEADING THE WAY
Ben Sonnefeld leads Mines in scoring (14.7 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg) through the first seven games of the season, one of two Orediggers in double-digit scoring along with Mason Baker (13.1 ppg) with true freshman Brendan Sullivan at 9.9 ppg. The Orediggers are out-rebounding opponents by a +5.7 per game margin and are also outpacing opponents on blocks (43 to 25) and assists (101 to 81) while outshooting opponents overall (.451 to .414) and from three (.362 to .339).

MINES PICKED SECOND IN THE RMAC
The Orediggers were picked second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Regis. The Orediggers (22-9 in 2017-18) received 203 points and four first-place votes to sit second in the poll behind last year's RMAC Tournament winner Regis (216 points, 8 first) but ahead of defending regular-season champ Fort Lewis (199 points, 2 first) and new RMAC member Dixie State (185 points, 2 first), who won last year's PacWest regular-season and tournament titles. UCCS was chosen seventh.

LAST YEAR
Mines made this same road trip a year ago and split it, beating Colorado Mesa 82-72 but falling at Western Colorado 79-76. At CMU, the Orediggers outscored the Mavericks  by a 34-5 margin off the bench as Mason Baker drained 20 and Duke Douglas had nine.Michael Glen generated a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double to go with two blocks, and Ben Sonnefeld had 16 points with four assists as Mines used a hot start to the second half to put the game away. Colorado Mesa was held to 37.9 percent shooting as Emilio Acedo poured in 29 points in the losing effort. In Gunnison, a late surge by Western State gave them a 79-76 win despite a monster 31-point, 12-rebound effort from Adam Laine. The Mountaineers hit 9-of-22 three-point tries as Ben Beauchamp scored 22.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home to host Colorado Christian and Regis on Dec. 15 and 16.