RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament, hosted by Fort Lewis
Semifinal: [3] Mines vs. [2] Regis, Friday, 5 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Final: Mines vs. [1] Fort Lewis or [4] Adams State, Saturday, 7 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats] [TV: CET]
 

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THE TOURNAMENT
The RMAC Tournament shifts to Durango as top-seeded Fort Lewis will host the semifinal and final rounds. In Friday's first semifinal, third-seeded Mines faces second-seeded Regis at 5 p.m., with the hosts facing fourth-seeded Adams State at 7 p.m. The championship game will pit those two winners on Saturday at 7 p.m., televised live on CET Sports.

QUARTERFINAL RECAP
Led by Duke Douglas' career-high 29 points, Mines advanced to the RMAC Tournament semifinals with a 95-83 win over UCCS on Tuesday. UCCS had no answer for Douglas, who shot 12-for-15 and added two blocks and two assists. All five Mines starters scored in double digits as Luke Schroepfer drained 20, Ben Sonnefeld had 14 (including a perfect 10-for-10 night at the line), Michael Glen had 13, and Adam Laine 12. Mines shot 55 percent for the game including 64.3 percent in the first half and 5-for-10 from three-point range.

LAST YEAR
Mines will hope to repeat as RMAC Tournament champions for the first time in program history after winning it in 2016-17 on the way to the NCAA Elite Eight. At home, Mines beat MSU Denver 70-61 in the semis before outlasting Fort Lewis 102-98 in an overtime classic that saw the Orediggers erase a Skyhawk lead in the final minute.

MINES VS. THE FIELD
Mines is 2-2 vs. the remaining teams in this year's tournament. The Orediggers split with their semifinal opponent, Regis, winning 69-58 in Denver in December but losing a 68-67 heartbreaker at home on Feb. 2. Of potential final opponents, Mines lost in the road 60-54 to Adams State on Jan. 27 but beat Fort Lewis in their only meeting, 79-68, back on Feb. 16.

WIN AND IN
The winner of the RMAC Tournament earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Mines may need to win to get in – the Orediggers are on the bubble sitting eighth in this week's NCAA regional rankings, with the top eight teams in the South Central region getting in. The good news for Mines is that their strength of schedule will get a boost with Regis ranked ahead of them at #6 and Fort Lewis at #4.

MINES TRIO NAMED ALL-RMAC
Luke Schroepfer, Ben Sonnefeld, and Michael Glen were honored as All-RMAC on Tuesday for their play this season. Glen was also named the RMAC Freshman of the Year, Mines' first since Gokul Natesan in 2013-14. Schroepfer earned a spot on the first team, Sonnefeld the second team, and Glen honorable mention.

RUSK EARNS SUMMIT AWARD
On Thursday, Mines senior Zach Rusk was named the RMAC Summit Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the RMAC Tournament finals site. Rusk is a chemical & biochemical engineering major with a 3.818 GPA. This season, Rusk has been a key bench leader for Mines, appearing in all 29 games with three starts and averaging 4.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. He has been especially productive down the stretch run while helping Mines to the RMAC Tournament semis, averaging 10.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 2.3 assists per game over the last three outings, including a season-high 16 points at MSU Denver last Saturday.

SONNEFELD NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Rusk isn't the only Oredigger showing out in the classroom. Last Thursday, Ben Sonnefeld was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for his combination of athletic and academic achievement. Sonnefeld is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.71 GPA; this season he is averaging 12.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game, all of which are career highs.

FROM THE OUTSIDE
Mines enters the weekend ranked #1 in NCAA Division II in three-point shooting percentage, hitting 43.9 percent of their outside shots this season. They're led by Luke Schroepfer, who is 12th in D-II at .463 percent having made 74 of 160 attempts. Mason Baker is .529 percent off the bench (36-for-68) with Ben Sonnefeld (.455), Michael Glen (.446), and Luke Golter (.433) all over .400 this season.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Another area Mines has done very well in this year is taking care of the ball - the Orediggers rank eighth in D-II in fewest turnovers this season (278) and are coming off one of their best games of the year in that regard. Mines turned the ball over only five times against UCCS in the RMAC Tournament quarterfinals, including twice in the first half; the regular Mines rotation gave it away just three times in the game.