#RV Mines (4-2, 0-0) vs. #18 Colorado Mesa (3-1, 0-0) – Friday, 7:30 p.m.– Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#RV Mines (4-2, 0-0) vs. Westminster (4-2, 0-0) – Saturday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS
Riding the momentum of two wins before the Thanksgiving break, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be back at Lockridge Arena for two games this weekend as they pivot to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play as they'll welcome 18th-ranked Colorado Mesa and Westminster to town Friday and Saturday evening.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Coverage of this weekend's games will be available on the RMAC Network and have live stats available at minesathletics.com.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2023-24 season will be the 23rd for the Orediggers under the guidance of head coach Pryor Orser. Already the winningest coach in program history, he eclipsed the 400-win mark in November of last season and has a career record of 425-220 overall and a mark of 300-150 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, 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 12 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
THE CAPTAINS
Second-year graduate transfer Sam Beskind and redshirt sophomore guard Cade Mankle will serve as captains for the Orediggers in 2023-24. Beskind burst onto the RMAC scene last year, averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while also shooting .481/.338/.835 on the season and ranking second in the conference in total assists with 120 and leading the league in assist to turnover ratio at 2.2. Mankle split time between the starting five and the bench rotation in his first season of action last year, averaging 4.4 points and 1.6 assists per game while shooting .397/.310/.542 for the year.
 
IN THE POLLS
The second set of rankings from the NABC in the regular season came out Tuesday and saw the Orediggers earn votes in this week's poll. MSU Denver is off to a hot start at 6-0 and is ranked inside the Top 10 at #8 this week while Colorado Mesa checks in at #18 and Fort Lewis at #20.
 
Speaking of the RMAC, Mines earned a trio of first place votes and was picked to finish third in the league season behind Colorado Mesa, who earned eight first place votes, and Fort Lewis who earned four. Black Hills State and Chadron State rounded out the rest of the top five.
 
WEEK 3 RECAP
The Orediggers moved a season-best two games over .500 with two wins before the Thanksgiving break, knocking off UCCS on the road on November 18 in a close 66-64 affair before kicking things off at Lockridge Arena November 20 with an 86-51 win over Williams Baptist.
 
Against UCCS, Cade Mankle dropped a career-high 21 points on 10-13 shooting and was joined in double-figures by Sam Beskind and Majok Deng who each went for 12 and transfer Juani Dassie, who added 11 off the bench that included several clutch field goals down the stretch in the closing minutes in a game that was marred by fouls, with the teams combing for 43 personal fouls in the game along with two technical. Against Williams Baptist, freshman Alex Romack paced the attack with a 21 point, 11 rebound double-double while Mankle went 7-12 from the floor for 18 points with Deng adding 10. Adam Krasovec started getting back to form with nine points in 12 minutes off the bench on 4-6 shooting.
 
A BUSY, BUSY MAN
Graduate student Sam Beskind is an ambitious man and a bright one at that. After all, how many people can boast having two degrees from Stanford (B.S. & M.S. in Management Science & Engineering) already to their name while working on a second Master's degree while at Mines (Humanitarian Engineering/Advanced Energy Systems)? The Tucson native is also doing all that in the classroom while also running the Orediggers offense from his point guard spot and is currently averaging 9.7 points per game and scored in double-digits in four of six contests this season while also averaging 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. And as if he weren't busy enough, he hosts his own podcast called "Built for Earth", which is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Started in January 2023, the series is already 23 episodes deep and features interviews with industry leaders in the renewable energy space and discuss wide-ranging solutions to help preserve the planet and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If you need something new to listen to and maybe learn a thing or tune, be sure to tune in. We're sure Sam won't mind some new listeners when he checks his analytics.
 
SIZZLING START
The start of Majok Deng's career in a Mines uniform has certainly been impressive and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Currently the Pepperdine transfer is averaging 16.3 PPG and 3.8 RPG while shooting .478 (33-69) from the field and .410 (16-39) from long range. He has gone for double-digits in every game so far, scored the first points for Mines in four of the first six contests and posted back-to-back 17-point outings down in Texas in week two following a 31-point outburst the first Sunday of the season. Needless to say, Deng has been a welcome addition to the Orediggers to start the season.
 
BOARD MAN
Freshman Alex Romack has made himself known in the first six games of the season by being a major force on the glass. Entering this weekend, Romack is averaging an even nine rebounds per game and had another massive day last Monday, hauling in 11 boards in the win over Williams Baptist, his second double-digit rebound showing of the season behind his 14 against Lubbock Christian on November 10 His 54 rebounds lead the team and are third in the RMAC as well while his average is good for fifth in the league. Of course, one should expect nothing less from someone hailing from the heartland of hoops, the Hoosier State of Indiana.
 
PERFECT 10
Last time out, Alex Romack did what very few can lay claim to and that is have a perfect night shooting the ball a minimum of 10 times. The freshman from Westfield, Indiana turned in his first career double-double in just his sixth career game, going for 21 points and 11 rebounds with his only miss of the night coming from the free throw line. He broke a 39-year old record for field goal percentage in a game set back in 1983 by George Wayne who shot .933 (14-15) against Cal State Dominguez Hills. 20 of Romack's points last Monday came from the field, where he was a perfect 10-10 shooting the ball. Hopefully he can ride the momentum of that outing and continue to be a performer in the scoring column as the year goes on.
 
LOOKING AT THE STATS
Mines enters the RMAC portion of their schedule with a record of 4-2 and are winners of two in a row coming into play Friday. Majok Deng continues to lead the team in scoring at 16.3 PPG and is shooting .478 from the floor and .410 from three-point land while also hauling down 3.8 rebounds per game. Cade Mankle is next on the list in scoring at 12.3 PPG and is shooting .541 on the season seven assists and four steals. Sam Beskind isn't far off from double-digits, checking in at 9.7 PPG and shooting .478 with a team-high 19 assists along with 5.8 rebounds per game.
 
Alex Romack raised his scoring average to 6.5 PPG and leads the club with 9.0 rebounds per game and is one of the RMAC leaders when it comes to pounding the boards. Riley Schroeder is averaging 7.8 PPG and leads the team with seven blocks while Grant Pressly has come off the bench to record 14 assists, three steals and two blocks. Newcomers Markus Pastorcic-Straun (6.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 7 AST) and Juani Dassie (5.2 PPG, .459 FG%, .429 3FG%) are also ones to keep an eye on this weekend.
 
For the season, the Orediggers are averaging 67.7 PPG and are +2.4 in scoring margin. They are shooting .461/.310/.570 on the season with 39.0 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.2 steals and 4.0 blocks per game. They are +6 in rebounding margin but are -5.2 in turnover margin and are handing the ball over 15.0 times per game. Opponents meanwhile are averaging 65.3 PPG and shooting .391/.289/.833 on the season with 33.0 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 7.2 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while turning it over just 9.8 times per night.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
The #18 Mavericks are winners of three straight games after and opening day loss to Dallas Baptist and will enter play Friday not having played since November 18 when they dispatched Texas A&M International by a score of 77-73.
 
Four players are scoring better than 12 points per night for CMU, led by the reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Mac Riniker who is showing off his offensive prowess averaging 20.3 PPG on .722 shooting from the floor while also dishing out 10 assists and leading the team with 11 steals while pulling down 5.5 rebounds per night. He's followed by Trevor Baskin who is averaging a double-double currently at 17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on .455 shooting with 12 assists on a team-high five blocks. Owen Koone is next at 12.8 PPG and is shooting .594/.571/1.000 so far while Isaac Jessup rounds out the group at 12.3 PPG and is shooting .486 from the field and .440 from deep with a team-best 11 three-pointers.
 
The production falls off steeply from there, as Reece Johnson leads the reserves in scoring at 4.8 PPG along with Christian Speller. Colorado Mesa will likely look to get more production from their bench as RMAC play begins.
 
On the season, CMU is averaging 85.3 PPG and is +7.8 in scoring margin. They are shooting .500/.360/.740 on the season and average 33.5 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while turning the ball over 17.5 times per night and are -2.2 in turnover margin. Opponents are averaging 77.5 PPG and shooting .444/.357/.793 with 30.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 9.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest and turn the ball over at a rate of 15.3 times per night.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
The Griffins picked up a pair of wins at their post-Thanksgiving event, knocking off Justice College 85-69 and Navajo Technical University 92-74. They'll take on MSU Denver Friday night before making the trip up to Golden Saturday night.
 
Westminster is led by Chase Potter who is averaging 17.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting .600 (45-75) from the floor. Rylan O'Brien is the other player averaging double-figure scoring at 12.0 PPG while shooting .469/.439/.800 with 10 assists on the season and is tied for the team lead in steals with five. Pierce Sterling isn't too far off at 9.3 PPG and is shooting .538 from the floor and is 12-18 from the free throw line and also has five steals. Tyler Kurtz enters the week scoring at a clip of 9.0 PPG and is shooting .529 from the field while leading the team with 14 makes from the free throw line. Trey Wood is the team's leading rebounding at 5.5 RPG while scoring 6.8 PPG and also has 11 dimes while leading the team with five blocks. Drake Middleton is also someone to keep on eye on as a sixth man, scoring 4.6 points and pulling down 3.8 rebounds per game while also adding four steals and three blocks on the defensive end.
 
Collectively, WU is averaging 74.3 PPG and is +1.6 in scoring margin. They are shooting .487/.339/.718 for the season and average 31.5 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 4.2 steals and 2.7 blocks per game and find themselves trailing opponents in rebounding margin (-1.2) and turnover margin (-1.8), handing the ball over 12.0 times per game. Opponents meanwhile are averaging 72.7 PPG and shooting .440/.338/.714 with 32.7 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 7.5 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while committing 10.2 turnovers per night.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers took two out of three last season from CMU, splitting the regular season meetings as each team won on the road before knocking off the Mavericks 64-53 on their home court in the semifinals of the RMAC tournament. All-time, CMU leads the series 54-33 and is 23-17 all-time when playing in Golden. Over the last 10 meetings, the teams are 5-5. When it comes to Westminster, the Orediggers also trail but by a much closer margin as the Griffins lead 29-27. However, Mines is 16-9 all-time when playing at home and hasn't lost in their last seven meetings at home going back to 1977. Last season Mines picked up a 79-73 win on the road in Salt Lake City and are 6-4 over their last 10 against WU.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will hit the road for their next four dates following this weekend, starting with the South Dakota swing next weekend when they take on South Dakota Mines on December 8 before squaring off with Black Hills State on December 9.

Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on X and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.