Mines vs. Fort Lewis, Friday, 7:30 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] 
Mines vs. Western Colorado, Saturday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] 

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OREDIGGERS RETURN HOME ON A ROLL
Winner of eight straight games, Colorado School of Mines (13-7, 11-5 RMAC) returns home looking to extend its streak hosting Fort Lewis (12-7, 8-5 RMAC) and Western Colorado (5-17, 4-12 RMAC). The Orediggers have not lost since Jan. 11, and in that span have climbed up the standings to put themselves in postseason position. 

MASKS REQUIRED AT LOCKRIDGE ARENA
Consistent with the Jefferson County Public Health indoor masking order, masks will be mandatory for all spectators attending Colorado School of Mines home basketball games this weekend. 

LAST TIME OUT
Mines' winning streak stretched to eight games as they blew out Colorado Christian, 85-50, on the road last Saturday. Mines scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed, shooting .579 overall and a season-best .583 for three to run away from the Cougars. It was again a distributed team effort on offense as Brendan Sullivan and Kai Barr each had 16 points, Ben Boone scored 15, and Riley Schroeder had 12 to go with seven rebounds. Justin Engesser, returning to his undergraduate alma mater for the final time, had nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists off the bench.

THE POSTSEASON HUNT
With six games left in the regular season, Mines sits in fourth place in the RMAC at 11-5 (.688), a half-game back of Colorado Mesa (12-5, .706) and one behind Regis (11-4, .733) in second. Black Hills State (14-2, .875) leads the conference. The Oredigger could conceivably clinch a berth in the RMAC Tournament this weekend with two wins and some other helpful results from around the league, but essentially Mines needs, at a minimum, three wins out of their last six to ensure a playoff spot. 

SULLIVAN EARNS TOP RMAC ACADEMIC HONOR
Last week, Brendan Sullivan was named the RMAC Academic Player of the Year for the second straight season in recognition of his outstanding athletic and academic achievement. The senior civil engineering major was joined as a First-Team Academic All-RMAC selection by senior mechanical engineering major Ben Boone, and senior mechanical engineering major Trent Dykema was named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.

ORSER SETS NEW STANDARD
Mines' win over Westminster on Jan. 22 marked the 387th of Pryor Orser's career at Mines, which set the program's all-time record for victories. In his 21st season, Orser is now 392-208 to surpass Jim Darden, who coached Mines from 1954 to 1992 with 386 wins. Orser is also 279-143 in RMAC play which marks the second-most wins in conference history. Under Orser, Mines has won five RMAC regular-season championships and two RMAC Tournament titles, and qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 

TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
Friday's match-up with Fort Lewis will pit the RMAC's best offense vs. its best defense. Mines owns the RMAC's top defensive unit allowing 64.3 points per game and holding opponents to .412 overall and .293 for three, all best in the conference. Meanwhile Fort Lewis scores 84.9 points per game to top the RMAC stats, and they have the league's second-best shooting percentage (.491) and third-best free-throw percentage (.759). The Orediggers face two of the RMAC's top three individual scorers this weekend in FLC's Riley Farris (20.1 ppg, 3rd) and Western's Matthew Ragsdale (21.7 ppg, 2nd). 

BENCH PRODUCTION POWERING WIN STREAK
The Mines bench is producing an average of 35.5 points per game over the last two weeks, and that's largely been powered by Kai Barr and Justin Engesser. Barr tied his career scoring high with 16 in his last game against Colorado Christian and is averaging 9.3 ppg over the last four; Engesser tied his career high with 24 at Adams State two weekends ago and is averaging 12.5 points off the bench over the last two weeks, including a near double-double (9 points, 9 rebounds) at CCU. Trent Dykema has also been a big bench contributor at 7.9 ppg in the same span as has Paul O'Leary (6.3 ppg). 

MINES VS. FORT LEWIS
Like Mines, Fort Lewis is battling for a postseason spot coming into the weekend 12-7 overall and 8-5 in RMAC play having won four of their last six including a 90-79 win at UCCS last Saturday. Riley Farris powers the RMAC's top offense with 20.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Akuel Kot adds 14.7 points and Brenden Boatwright 12.3 points per game. The Skyhawks get to the line a ton (24 attempts per game) and make their shots, finishing at a .759 clip from the stripe.

When the two last met on Dec. 18, Fort Lewis came back late to win 86-78 in Durango despite Ben Boone's career-high 24 points and a 14-point Kobi Betts effort. Farris scored 26 and Boatwright had 22 points and 11 rebounds; foul shooting was key as FLC was 17-of-20 to Mines' 4-of-9. FLC leads the all-time series 55-37 dating back to 1968, and their win in December snapped an eight-game Mines win streak.

MINES VS. WESTERN COLORADO
Since beating Mines on Dec. 17, Western Colorado has lost nine of their 11 games including four straight heading into this weekend to be 5-17 overall and 4-12 in the RMAC. The young roster is led by Matthew Ragsdale and his 21.7 points per game, but Avery Rembao is the only other Mountaineers averaging double figures at 12.0 points per game. Ten different Mountaineers have at least four starts this season. 

The most-played and oldest continuous series in Mines Basketball dating back to 1925, the Orediggers will meet the Mountaineers for the 186th time with WCU leading 99-86. The Mountaineers won in Gunnison 83-78 on Dec. 17 as they went 28-of-35 from the line and held off Mines after the Orediggers cut it to a two-point game with 18 seconds left. Brendan Sullivan scored 25 points and Adam Krasovec had a 16/10 double-double, while Ragsdale dropped in 23 for Western.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers wrap up the regular season with road games at Westminster (Feb. 18) and Colorado Mesa (Feb. 19) before finishing at home Feb. 25 vs. Adams State and Feb. 26 vs. CSU Pueblo.