#10/11 Mines (8-1, 4-0 RMAC) vs. #3/2 West Liberty (10-0, 5-0 MEC) – Thursday, 3:15 p.m. PT – Las Vegas, Nev. [Live Stats] [FloCollege PPV]
#10/11 Mines (8-1, 4-0 RMAC) vs. Angelo State (6-3, 3-2 LSC) – Friday, 8:15 p.m. PT – Las Vegas, Nev. [Live Stats] [FloCollege PPV]

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VIVA LAS VEGAS
For the second time this season, the #10/11 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be heading to a town called Las Vegas, but this time they'll be under the bright lights of the one in Nevada for the Holiday Hoops Classic at the South Point Casino against a pair of first-time opponents, highlighted by a Top 10 battle Thursday afternoon against #3/2 West Liberty before closing out action in 2024 Friday night against Angelo State.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both games this weekend will be available on FloCollege at a pay-per-view basis. Fans will need to create an account and subscribe to watch. Free live stats will be available for both games. Links for video and stats for both games can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
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 453-228 overall and a mark of 321-155 in league play. Under Orser, Mines has won five RMAC regular-season championships and two RMAC Tournament titles and qualified for 13 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.
 
On the national stage, Mines remained at #10 and #11 in the NABC Division II Coaches and D2CSC Media Polls.
 
Nova Southeastern and Ferris State were the only members of the top five in the coaches poll to remain unchanged at #1 and #5 while Washburn and West Liberty each moved up one spot into second and third while Daemen surged three spots up to fourth.
 
This week's media poll also had the Sharks at #1 followed by the Hilltoppers of WLU moving up from fourth to second with Washburn remaining third. West Texas A&M dropped to fourth, essentially trading places with West Liberty while Ferris State also held pat at #5.
 
MSU Denver also appeared in the Top 25 in both polls this week at #22 in the coaches poll and #25 in the media poll as the only other RMAC team in the national spotlight.

WEEK 5 RECAP
Mines ran their winning ways to eight games last weekend thanks to 65-58 and 85-64 wins over Colorado Mesa and Westminster.
 
Saturday against the Mavericks, the Orediggers didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the opening half, especially from long range, but found their form in the second half, shooting .517 from the floor and .462 from three to pull away over the final 20 minutes. Majok Deng led the way with 13 points while riley Schroeder and Alex Romack each went for 10. Cade Mankle collected eight rebounds and had a look at a double-double with seven points while Grant Pressly dished out a career-best eight assists with five rebounds.
 
Monday against Westminster, Mines opened up the game on a 14-0 run and never looked back in a wire-to-wire win. Deng led all scorers with 20 points while Juani Dassie went for 12, all coming on three balls in the second half. Romack and Reagan Koch each finished with 11 was the latter shined in his first start of the season, adding two boards, two blocks and two steals while going 4-7 from the floor and 3-5 from deep. Mankle added another six dimes while Jonathan Moore went 3-3 shooting with eight rebounds.
 
RMAC ROLL CALL
Mines and MSU Denver stand alone atop the league standings after two weeks of action at 4-0 followed by a three-way tie for third with CSU Pueblo, Regis and Black Hills State all at 3-1. UCCS, Fort Lewis, Colorado Christian, Chadron State and Western Colorado are all 2-2 and occupy sixth through 10th in the standings while Westminster, Adams State and South Dakota Mines are all 1-3 in positions 11-13. New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Mesa are still looking for their first league wins of the season and will have to wait until 2025 to do so as both sit at 0-4.
 
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. Just weeks later in February, 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.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is ninth in the country in assists per game at 19.9 and seventh nationally in bench points at 42.0 PPG. Their 15.9 scoring margin is good for 18th and their 10.4 three-pointers per game is enough for 20th. The Orediggers are also 22nd in assist/turnover ratio at 1.49 and just outside the top 30 nationally in field goal percentage at 50.6%.
 
RMAC LEADERS
Four games deep into league action, several individual Orediggers find their names at or near the top of the RMAC. Grant Pressly and Cade Mankle are first and third in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 3.22 and 2.27. Mankle is also seventh in the conference with 34 dimes and Pressly is 13th with 29 as both are in the top five in assists per game.
 
Jonathan Moore's 11 blocks rank sixth while Majok Deng is fourth in free throw percentage (85.4%), ninth in made free throws (35) and 11th in field goals percentage at 45.9%. He also ranks eighth in total scoring with 197 points and fourth in scoring average at 16.9 per night.
 
Alex Romack has been a menace on the offensive glass this season, average a league-best three offensive boards per game while sophomore running mate Markus Pastorcic-Straun is fourth in the RMAC in steals per game at 1.56. Juani Dassie rounds out the league leaders at the top three-point percentage shooter at 51.9% while his total three-pointers (28) and three-pointers per game (3.11) are both good for second in the league.
 
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.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Majok Deng headlines a quartet of Orediggers scoring better than 10 points per night at 16.9 PPG with 4.3 RPG and 10 steals while shooting .459/.378/.854. Juani Dassie has headlined the second unit with 12.0 PPG off the bench and is shooting .561/.519/.750 this season with 10 assists, eight steals and four blocks.
 
Alex Romack has found another gear the past few weeks as he's raised his scoring average to 11.2 PPG and leads the team with 5.3 RPG on .644 shooting with six steals and six blocks. Riley Schroeder is the fourth member of the group at 10.4 PPG as he's shot .492/.407/.800 in seven games with 17 assists, five steals and three blocks.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Reagan Koch have shined off the bench, scoring 8.4 and 6.8 PPG apiece with the former shooting .446 from the floor with 26 assists and a team-best 14 steals. The latter is shooting .355 from downtown with 3.4 RPG and has 20 assists, 11 steals and three blocks. Cade Mankle is scoring at a clip of 5.6 PPG and leads the team with 34 dimes and has 12 steals of his own while Jonathan Moore's 11 blocks leads the team in that category as he also has 15 assists while shooting .690 and scoring 5.2 PPG.
 
Caleb Clark (3.8 PPG) and Grant Pressly (3.5 PPG) also have double figure assists with 12 and 29 apiece with 13 steals between them.
 
For the season, Mines is scoring 85.3 PPG and is +15.2 in scoring margin, shooting .492/.384/.748 while opponents have shot .431/.342/.683. They are +5.1 in rebounding margin thanks to 37.2 per night and dish out just shy of 20 assists per game. They are +1.3 in turnover margin, handing it over 13.3 times per game but score 17.4 PPG on average off 14.7 opponents' turnovers. Defensively, they average 9.7 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING WEST LIBERTY
The Hilltoppers are thus far unbeaten in the 2024-25 season at 10-0 overall and 5-0 in Mountain East Conference play. They were last in action Saturday on the road and held on for a nail-biting 92-89 win against West Virginia State.
 
Five players for WLU are scoring better than 10 points per night including four of five starters with the fifth not far behind. Leading the way is reigning MEC Freshman of the Year Kyler D'Augustino at 17.5 PPG along with 3.8 RPG on .486 shooting from the floor. He leads the way in field goals (72) and is second in steals with 19 while also dishing out 24 assists in 28.7 MPG. JJ Harper follows at 15.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with a team-best 14 blocks along with 16 swipes and 20 dimes while shooting .558/.432/.571 as the team's top percentage shooter from long range.
 
Dante Spadafora is next at 13.1 PPG and 4.7 RPG with 30 assists and a team-leading 20 steals while going .386 from the floor and .825 at the line. Finley Woodward rounds out the starting contingent at 11.4 PPG leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 per night while shooting .444 from the floor and .733 from the stripe as the team leader in assists with 52 to go with 16 steals.
 
Kameron Tinsley averages 10.5 per night off the bench on .521/.400/.611 shooting as the team leader in three-point field goals with 18 while also hauling down 4.9 rebounds per game. Lanyc Shuler, the only starter not averaging double figure scoring, checks in at a mark of 9.7 PPG on .507 shooting with 29 dimes and 15 steals.
 
John Dragas (6.4 PPG, .488 FG%, 15 AST) and Daniel Autrey (6.2 PPG, 6 STL, 6 BLK) also figure into the rotation as well.
 
One of the highest scoring teams in Division II, WLU has already gone north of 100 points four times this season as they average 94.7 PPG and are +11.8 in scoring margin. They shoot .457/.313/.717 as a unit and hold opponents to .452/.296/.699. While averaging 38 rebounds per game, they still find themselves -5.7 in rebounding margin but do average 21.2 assists per game. The Hilltoppers do a good job taking care of the ball, turning it over just 11.5 times on average and are +7.9 in turnover margin, scoring better than 20 points per game off those turnovers. They average 10.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game defensively.
 
SCOUTING ANGELO STATE
The Rams will take on MSU Billings Thursday night as they will play the last game of the day each evening in Las Vegas. Their last action came Monday on the road in Lone Star Conference play at Cameron and resulted in a 65-58 win to get back into the win column following a 61-58 loss to Oklahoma Christian that snapped a three-game winning streak.
 
Sterling Gaston-Chapman headlines three players scoring double figures per night for ASU at 12.3 PPG and also leads the way in rebounding at 5.8 per contest and is one of three players with 17 assists while shooting .408/.400/.618. Kaden Evans is next at 11.0 PPG and is tops on the team with 16 steals while collecting 4.3 RPG and shooting .444/.413/.900 as the team-leader in three-pointers with 26. Carvell Teasett rounds out the trio at 10.6 PPG with 17 assists and six steals and is shooting .403/.457/.833 and trails only Evans in three-pointers.
 
Kendrick Delahoussaye is averaging 7.2 PPG with 17 assists and nine blocks but has a team-leading 20 turnovers while Damonze Woods is scoring 6.9 per night with seven assists, a team-high seven blocks and five steals. Others to watch include Shemar Smith (6.4 PPG, .490 FG%, 7 STL), Denim Dawson (.405 FG%, 9 AST, 4 BLK) and Jalen Gilmore, the team leader in assists (4.9 PPG, .583 3FG%, 19 AST).
 
For the season, Angelo State is averaging 72.2 PPG and is +8.6 in scoring margin. They have shot .462/.379/.679 through nine games held opponents to .394/.293/.636 shooting. They average 34.7 rebounds per game and are +2.0 in rebounding margin and average 12.6 assists per night. The Rams average 13.7 turnovers per game and are just +0.4 in TO margin. Defensively they have average 7.4 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday afternoon will mark the first-ever meeting between West Liberty and Mines. The Hilltoppers will be the 194th different opponent in program history.
 
Surprisingly enough, and despite being in the same region, Friday night will also be the first-ever meeting between the Orediggers and Rams with ASU becoming the 195th different opponents in program history.
 
All-time against teams from the state of Texas, Mines is 20-30 all-time and is 2-0 against first-time opponents this season with wins over UT Tyler and UT Dallas in early November.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
This week concludes play for the Orediggers in the 2024 calendar year. They'll return to action following holiday season January 4, 2025 against Northern New Mexico at 3 p.m. at Lockridge Arena in their final non-conference action of the season.

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.