#8 Mines (0-0) vs. #RV Lubbock Christian (1-1) – Friday, 7 p.m.– Golden Colo. [Live Stats] [Tickets] [RMAC Network]
#8 Mines (0-0) vs. St. Mary's (TX) (0-0) – Saturday, 7 p.m.– Golden Colo. [Live Stats] [Tickets] [RMAC Network]

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FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK
A new season tips off this weekend at Lockridge Arena as the 120th edition of Colorado School of Mines men's basketball begins with regional crossover action against #RV Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's (TX) Friday and Saturday nights at 7 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available for both matches. Links for video and stats for both matches can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are encouraged to utilize the parking garage on Maple Street or Lot D directly across from Lockridge Arena. Fans as are not allowed to park in the neighborhoods surrounding the Mines campus, as the City of Golden's street parking requires a permit seven days a week.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2024-24 season will be the 24th for the Orediggers under the guidance of head coach Pryor Orser. The winningest coach in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Orser's record stands at 445-227 overall and a mark of 317-155 in league play. 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. 
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were tabbed the preseason favorites to win the RMAC this season, earning 11 of 14 first place ballots and compiling 191 points. MSU Denver was picked to finish second followed by Regis, Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa.
 
Nationally, Mines slotted in at #8 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll to begin the season. Defending national champions Minnesota State and runners-up Nova Southeastern went 1-2 in the rankings followed by West Texas A&M, Minnesota State Moorhead and Dallas Baptist.

2023-24 RECAP
Mines went 24-9 overall and 17-5 last season including a 12-2 mark when playing at Lockridge Arena. A 14-game winning streak from December 2-January 26 was one of the highlights of the season as was a 117-point outburst on the road against Adams State on February 3. Perhaps the biggest win of the season came in the regular season finale against #2/6 Fort Lewis at home as the Orediggers spoiled the Skyhawks' plans of an RMAC title with a 70-65 win. Other highlights from the season included head coach Pryor Orser breaking two RMAC wins records, becoming the all-time leader in conference wins on January 20 with a 71-59 win over UCCS before becoming the league's all-time wins leader February 24 at Chadron State with a 74-56 win. Mines once again made it to the RMAC semifinals and the NCAA Tournament and had a trio of all-conference honorees and a pair of major award winners. Alex Romack was named Freshman of the Year while Sam Beskind was named First Team All-League and Academic Player of the Year. Newcomer Majok Deng also earned First Team honors while Cade Mankle was an Honorable Mention selection.
 
FOR ALL TIME
Currently in his 23rd season leading the Orediggers, head coach Pryor Orser has seen a thing or two and is subsequently no stranger to milestone moments and record-setting success. Back on January 20 against UCCS, the legendary coach added another to his list of accomplishments, becoming the winningest coach in terms of conference wins in the history of the RMAC with 310 and counting. On Saturday, Orser broke another conference record, this time for the most overall wins by a head coach in league history with a 74-56 win over Chadron State, giving him 442 for his career to again pass the great Bob Hofman who made a mark on RMAC history at Fort Lewis and Western Colorado over his 24 seasons between the two institutions. With seemingly no plans to hang it up anytime soon and enjoying another successful season this year, Orser has the potential to set a record that could stand for just as long, if not longer, than the previous mark as another point on an already remarkable resume in a coaching career matched by only a few.
 
HELLO THERE
Four newcomers join the Orediggers for the 2024-25 campaign comprised of three freshmen and a junior college transfer. Will Cordonnier, Braydon Jacob and Matija Jordovic are joined by Ben Hammond a those four will look to try and compete for playing time in their first seasons in Golden. Read more about the newest members of the program here.
 
GETTING THAT SILVER
Grant Pressly and Reagan Koch each completed their undergraduate degrees in May and collected their silver-plated diplomas as they walked across the stage and are back for more as both have begun graduate programs. Pressly, a fifth-year man out of Plano, Texas earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Engineering and Management Science while Koch needed just three years to graduate with a degree in in Mechanical Engineering. Both men are currently pursuing graduate degrees in Engineering and Technology Management.
 
ONES TO WATCH
The secret is out on Majok Deng as the Pepperdine transfer burst onto the scene in his first season in Golden. Heading into his sixth and final season of collegiate competition, Deng averaged 17.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season and shot .441/.436/.840 with 26 assists and 14 steals in 24.8 minutes per contest. Cade Mankle averaged 9.4 PPG on his way to shooting .468/.343/.735 and was second on the team with 87 assists last year. Riley Schroeder continued to progress and as he enters his fifth and final season in Golden, will look to build off 9.5 points and 3.7 boards per game and a year in which he shot .488/.378/.891 with 50 assists and a team-best 28 blocks.
 
Alex Romack will look to continue his dominance in the post after his Freshman of the Year crown last season in which he averaged 8.9 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per contest while shooting .645 from the floor and registering 27 rejections. Another former Freshman of the Year, center Adam Krasovec had a string of five double-digit scoring games including two double-doubles last season as he's a threat both inside and from three-point land. Markus Pastorcic-Straun will look to take a step this year and shoulder a larger load after averaging 6.5 PPG off the bench last year while sharpshooter Juani Dassie will continue to lurk from long range after shooting .506 on three-point field goals last year to set a new single-season program record.
 
SCOUTING LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
LCU got their season underway last weekend at the D2 CCA Tipoff Classic hosted by West Texas A&M in Canyon as they picked up an opening day win in convincing fashion over Missouri Western 88-48 before being dropped by St. Cloud State the following afternoon 69-56. Last season the Chaps went 23-11 overall and 16-6 in Lone Star Conference play, making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament and finishing runners-up in the LSC Tournament.
 
Fort Lewis transfer Amondo Miller Jr currently leads the team in scoring at 16.0 PPG and is shooting .483 from the floor with 14 made field goals in the early going and is also averaging 3.5 rebounds per contest. Ty Caswell and Sean Murphy are both averaging 10.0 PPG off the bench with the former going 8-10 from the floor opening weekend including 4-4 from downtown and the latter shooting 7-12 and hauling in 15 rebounds including nine on the offensive glass.
 
Najeeb Muhammad is scoring 9.5 PPG and pulling down 5.0 RPG and is one of three Chaps with three steals in the early going while also shooting .500 from the floor. Jaylen Thompson leads the team with seven assists off the bench and also has three steals while averaging 5.5 PPG while Alex Anamekwe and Kendall Dow enter the week averaging 6.5 and 6.0 PPG respectively.
 
Currently Lubbock Christian is averaging 72.0 PPG through two games and is +13.5 in scoring margin. The are shooting .475/.378/.440 as a team while opponents have shot .372/.380/.636. They average 39.0 rebounds per game and are +7 over opponents while also dishing out 12.5 assists per night. They commit 10.5 turnovers on average while forcing 14.0 through two games and average 6.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game as well.
 
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S (TX)
The Rattlers are coming off a 2023-24 season in which they finished 12-16 overall and 8-14 in LSC action and ended last season losing six of their last seven games. Looking to improve on that mark, the Rattlers welcome 12 newcomers from the Division I and junior college ranks while bringing back just four returners, of which just three played.
 
Lachlan Bolfinger, a UTSA transfer who played his first season with St. Mary's last season, leads the returners after starting 20 times in 28 games and averaging 11.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game while shooting .485 from the floor and leading the team with 251 rebounds along with 51 assists, 17 steals and 15 blocks. Diego Gonzales (4.6 PPG, 21 AST, 43 STL), who led the team in steals last season, and Ryan Salinas also return as does Carson Bindseil following a redshirt season.
 
The newcomers are headlined by a trio of Division I transfers in Sebastian Mendoza from UT-Martin, Josh Reid from UTSA and Damani Claxton from Maryland-Eastern Shore. Mendoza, who also played two seasons at San Jose State, averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Skyhawks in 30 games and shot .412/.297/.643. Reid did not appear in a game for the Roadrunners while Claxton started twice in 29 games for the Hawks, averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds with 61 assists and 14 steals while shooting .365/.222/.643. Malcolm Steadman, Eddie McPhee, Wayne Wiggins, Eman Lawal and Franklin Agu all join the Rattlers from the junior college ranks while freshmen Can Alpacar and Lawyer Jones join the fray as well.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday night will be the 11th all-time meeting between Mines and Lubbock Christian with the Orediggers leading the series 6-4 and winning the last two meetings by scores of 69-66 in 2022 over at Regis and 61-59 last fall in San Antonio. The last time the teams played in Golden was in the 2019-20 season in which Mines won 75-47 to improve to 2-0 all-time when playing at Lockridge Arena.
 
Saturday meanwhile will be the 10th meeting between the Orediggers and Rattlers with Mines going 6-3 against St. Mary's over the first nine meetings. The SMU got the upper hand last fall with an 87-77 win in San Antonio, but the last time the teams played at elevation in 2022 Mines collected an 87-65 win over at Regis. The teams have played just twice in Lockridge Arena and split those games with the Rattlers winning in 2019 85-84 in overtime while the Orediggers posted a 70-62 win in 2015.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following opening weekend at Lockridge Arena, Mines will hit the road for the first time this season next weekend when they head to the Lone Star State to take on UT Tyler and UT Dallas November 15 and 16.

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, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.