#23/RV (5) Mines (24-8, 17-5 RMAC) vs. (4) #12/12 Dallas Baptist (24-5, 18-4 LSC) – Saturday, 7:30 p.m. CT– Canyon, Texas [Live Stats] [Live Video] [Tickets] [Tournament Central] [Bracket]
South Central Regional Semifinal - Sunday - 7:30 p.m. CT - Canyon, Texas
South Central Regional Championship - Tuesday - 7 p.m. CT - Canyon, Texas

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THE SHOW BEGINS
The season's not over for the #23/RV Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team as they'll begin the next leg of their postseason campaign in 2024 Saturday night at the first United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas, making their 13th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and entering the field this year as the fifth seed in the South Central Regional and will take on the fourth seed Dallas Baptist in the Round of 64.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
There will be no free video broadcast available for NCAA games this year, and the NCAA is requiring all schools to stream games behind a paywall. Prices, including taxes and fees range from $10.55 for a single game, $31.15 for access to the men's basketball tournament through the national quarterfinals for or $51.75 for both the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's AND Women's Basketball Championships through the quarterfinals. The national semifinals will be shown In CBS Sports Network while the national championship will be aired on main CBS. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and NCAA Digital have teamed up to release the "NCAA Championships Pass" app which can be downloaded on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV. Just search "NCAA Championships Pass" on those platforms. Additionally, free live stats will be linked at www.minesathletics.com and on social media.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets for the South Central Regional at the First United Bank Center went on sale Wednesday March 13 at 10 a.m. CT. Saturday's schedule will be split up into two sessions with the arena being cleared following Session I, fans will be asked to exit the First United Bank Center then re-enter with their Session II ticket. Session I features the No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa taking on the No. 6 seed Eastern New Mexico at noon. In the second quarterfinal, No. 2 Fort Lewis battles No. 7 Lubbock Christian at 2:30 p.m. The second session sees No. 1 West Texas A&M host No. 8 Angelo State at 5 p.m. Fourth-seeded Dallas Baptist and fifth-seeded Colorado School of Mines battle in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.
 
Fans can purchase their tickets at the WTAMU Ticket Office located inside the Virgil Henson Activity Center in Canyon. Tickets will also be sold at the door on the day of competition. Ticket pricing is listed below:

Sideline Seats Session Pass - $20
Reserved Chairback Session Pass - $10 (Section 116, 215, 216, 217)
General Admission Session Pass - $5
Children's General Admission Session Pass - $4 (3-17 years old)
Student of Participating Institution Session Pass (Must Show Valid ID) - $4
 
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 Mines history, he eclipsed the 400-win mark in November of last season and has a career record of 445-226 overall and a mark of 317-155 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, and is now holds the records for most conference wins and most wins all-time by a head coach in the RMAC, surpassing the previous record holder Bob Hofman of Fort Lewis and Western Colorado fame as he held the records for decades prior to Orser's incredible run. 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 latest NABC Coaches Poll announced released Tuesday saw Mines check in this week at #23. Sunshine State Conference champions Nova Southeastern (27-2) remained atop the polls this week, earning 15 of 16 first place votes for the second week running. Northern Sun champs Minnesota State (29-2) remained in second while Gannon (29-2) remained in third after hosting and sweeping their way to PASC Tournament crown. Northwest Missouri State (27-4) remained fourth, earning a first place vote again this week after winning the MIAA tournament with RMAC champs and runners-up swapping places with the Skyhawks (28-3) rounding out the top five and Colorado Mesa (27-4) dropping to sixth.
 
Other top 25 teams in this weekend's South Central Regional include the host #9 West Texas A&M and #12 Dallas Baptist, while Eastern New Mexico received votes this week along with Lubbock Christian.
 
RMAC SEMIFINAL RECAP
Mines bid to return to the RMAC Tournament title game was derailed Friday night in Grand Junction by Fort Lewis as the teams met for the second time in a week with the Skyhawks, who earned redemption after a 70-65 win by the Orediggers in Golden to close the regular season with an 87-73 win in the postseason. Majok Deng led the way for Mines with 20 points on 6-10 shooting including 3-4 from deep and 5-6 at the line with two rebounds and two assists while Riley Schroeder went for 14 on 4-8 from the floor, all of which came from beyond the arc while going 2-2 at the line with two rebounds, two blocks and two assists. Markus Pastorcic-Straun added 12 off the bench on 5-8 shooting while Reagan Koch added eight on 3-5 shooting with five rebounds.
 
LOOKING AT THE BRACKET
The Orediggers will begin their latest NCAA Tournament campaign against the #4 seed Dallas Baptist. For the second year in a row, West Texas A&M earned hosting honors and the #1 seed following a season in which they were a mainstay in the top five in the country and had a stretch of six weeks ranked at #1. They'll take on #8 seed Angelo State in the opening round while RMAC Tournament champions Fort Lewis took the #2 seed and will play the #7 seed Lubbock Christian. Rounding out the bracket are the #3 seed Colorado Mesa and the #6 seed, Lone Star Tournament champions Eastern New Mexico.
 
The winner between Mines and DBU will advance to the Round of 32 to take on the winner of West Texas A&M and Angelo State, while the winners between Fort Lewis/Lubbock Christian and Colorado Mesa/Eastern New Mexico will also advance to the Round of 32 Sunday to be played on Sunday. Following an off day Monday, the regional championship will be played Tuesday March 19.
 
DISHING IT OUT
In two seasons as Mines, Sam Beskind has long endeared himself to the Mines faithful and in doing so has penned his name into the all-time records at Mines. This season, he has logged 153 assists to pass Jeff Rhodes and Trevor Ritchie and move into solo possession for the third-most dimes in a season. Additionally, his 273 career assists now have him 10th all-time in program history, passing Russ Pulling, Stephen Bahl and Mike Mishak and is now two shy of recent Hall of Fame inductee Brett Green for ninth all-time at 275.
 
KING OF THE NERDS
Wednesday it was announced by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference that Sam Beskind was voted Academic Player of the Year.
 
Beskind, already a two-time graduate of Stanford University with both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Management Science & Engineering, earns the first academic honors of his career from the RMAC and keeps the award for the league's top scholar-athlete in Golden for the fourth consecutive year, as former Oredigger Brendan Sullivan took home the honor each of the previous three seasons. A First Team All-RMAC selection this season, Beskind followed up his debut season with one equally as good, if not better in 2023-24. To date, he has started all 32 games for Mines, logging 30.3 minutes per game and shooting .400/.308/.823 while scoring 8.8 points and hauling down 6.2 rebounds per night while averaging almost five assists. He led the RMAC this season in assists and his 153 so far this season are the third-most all-time in program history while the 273 he's posted in two seasons are good for 10th all-time at Mines. He has also posted 33 steals and set career highs in three-pointers (24), free throws (96), rebounds (197) and blocks (14) this season and recorded the first three double-doubles of his career while also recording 10 or more rebounds in a game five times and scoring in double figures 12 times. The Tuscon native holds a 3.88 GPA and is working on a second Master's degree at Mines in Advanced Energy Systems and Humanitarian Engineering.
 
In his time away from the court, Beskind also produces his own podcast on sustainable energy practices and green energy technology advancement called "Built Fort Earth." As Beskind writes in the series description, "Saving our planet is the most important business out there. The good news is we have the knowledge, technology, and power to do it. On this podcast, hear first-hand from entrepreneurs, scientists, and innovators who are taking on that challenge by founding companies that are Built For Earth. In particular, the show will highlight founders who are building hardtech solutions that enable meaningful greenhouse gas reduction." The podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and was recently highlighted by Jacob Tobey of 9News Denver.
 
HE'S *THAT* FRESHMAN
The RMAC announced its major award winners last Wednesday and saw Mines forward Alex Romack prevent a sweep of the major awards by Colorado Mesa, as he was voted the league's Freshman of the Year and becoming the second Oredigger in the last three seasons to earn the honor, joining teammate Adam Krasovec.
 
Romack turned in a stellar debut season in Golden, appearing in all 30 games and making 29 starts in the post during the regular season and averaging 8.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per night while adding 22 blocks and 18 steals. His 203 total rebounds rank fifth in the conference while his 75 offensive boards are good for second. The Westfield, Indiana product also shot .667 from the field this season, a number unrivaled by anyone in the RMAC. Romack scored in double digits 13 times this season and recorded five double-doubles and scored a career-high 21 points on November 20 against Williams Baptist while posting a high mark of 14 rebounds against Lubbock Christian on November 10. He also earned RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on December 18. In his postseason debut March 5 in the RMAC Quarterfinals, he recorded a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds, his sixth of the season and going 6-10 from the floor and 5-6 at the stripe.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Three other Orediggers earned All-RMAC accolades as well, with the guard trio of Sam Beskind, Majok Deng and Cade Mankle being honored for their efforts this season with two First Team awards and Honorable Mention recognition.
 
Beskind made the jump from being an Honorable Mention selection last season to being a First Team All-RMAC honoree in 2023-24, closed out the regular season as the league leader in assists with 144 and assist/turnover ratio at 2.4 (144 AST, 60 TO). The second-year graduate transfer from Stanford put up some career-best numbers in his second season as an Orediggers, hauling in 187 rebounds and recording 14 blocks while connecting 77 times from the free throw line. Despite seeing his scoring average dip slightly from last season to 8.9 PPG, Beskind raised his rebounding and assist numbers to 6.2 and 4.8 per night while shooting .412 from the field and .819 at the free throw line as he started all 30 games this season. The Tuscon native also recorded the first three double-doubles of his collegiate career against Lubbock Christian, CSU Pueblo and Black Hills State while recording 10 or more assists in a game on two occasions. Beskind also earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on January 15. In the RMAC quarterfinal against Regis, he just missed out on his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and eight rebounds while adding five assists and four steals in what has become his usual stat line.
 
Deng's debut season at Mines was about as good as anyone could have dreamed of and culminates in First Team All-RMAC recognition. The graduate transfer from Pepperdine started all 30 games this season and led the team in scoring while ranking sixth in the league at 17.0 PPG, shooting .435 from the floor. His 75 three-pointers ranked second in the conference while his .429 shooting percentage from outside was tops in the league. Deng also shot .830 from the free throw line to rank seventh in the RMAC this season and also averaged 3.5 rebounds per game with 23 assists, 14 steals and three blocks. He scored in double figures in 24 games this season, scoring 20 or more eight times and becoming the first player in the last nine seasons with multiple 30-point showings and first player in 20 years to score 40 or more points in game, doing so against Chadron State on February 24. He also earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on January 29 and February 26. In his Mines postseason debut Tuesday, he also scored 17 doing most of his work at the free throw line going 9-10 while adding a pair of three-pointers. He followed that up with 20 against Colorado Mesa and was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts.
 
Mankle rounds out the Mines contingent of All-RMAC selections, earning Honorable Mention accolades in his first full season as a starter. The redshirt sophomore started 27 times in 28 games and averaged 9.9 PPG while shooting .478 from the floor and recording career-highs in three-point field goals (23), free throws (34), rebounds (83) and assists (81). He averaged 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest while also adding 14 steals. 14 times Mankle scored in double figures including a career-high 28 against Black Hills State on December 9 while turning in five games with five or more assists. In Mines' quarterfinal win over Regis, Mankle scored eight points on 3-7 shooting with four rebounds.
 
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 February 24, 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 and counting 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.
 
NATIVE SONS
Two Orediggers will be returning to their home state this week for the NCAA Tournament, though neither's home town is particularly close to Canyon. Redshirt sophomore Cade Mankle hails from West Lake Hills while senior guard Grant Pressly calls Plano home. For Mankle, he'll be playing in this home state for the first time this season after missing Mines' two games in the regional crossover in San Antonio and will be playing in Texas for the second time in his career, the first being last year's regional at this same venue. For Pressly, Saturday will be the sixth game for him in the state he calls home.
 
LOOKING AT THE STATS
Majok Deng remains the locker room leader in scoring at 17.1 PPG and is shooting .436/.437/.834 as the team leader in made three-pointers with 80 and made free throws with 141 while adding 26 assists. Cade Mankle is scoring 9.7 PPG and is shooting .475 from the floor with 87 assists while Alex Romack continues to impress, scoring 9.0 per night while continuing to lead the team in rebounding at 6.8 RPG while shooting .659 from inside with 32 assists, 25 blocks and 18 steals. Riley Schroeder raised his scoring average to 9.5 PPG and is shooting .490 on the season with 3.6 RPG and a team-high 27 blocks while Sam Beskind stat sheet stuffing season across the board continues at 8.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 4.8 APG while adding a team-high 33 steals and 14 blocks while shooting .400 from the field.
 
Adam Krasovec (7.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG), Markus Pastorcic-Straun (6.3 PPG, .493 FG%) and Juani Dassie (5.3 PPG, .513 3FG%) have been key figures on the second unit throughout the season, impacting the game in various ways on both sides of the ball and will figure to play integral roles heading down the stretch and into the postseason.
 
Collectively, the Orediggers are +7.8 in scoring margin at 77.7 PPG and shooting .479/.388/.728 on the season. They average 37.7 rebounds per night and are +7.3 in rebounding margin while also averaging 16.8 assists per night and continue working to lower their turnover number to 12.2 per game, yet still find themselves -1.5 in that category while registering 5.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per contest. Comparatively, the opposition this season scores at a clip of 69.9 PPG and shoots .430/.330/.761 with 30.4 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 10.7 turnovers, 6.3 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING DALLAS BAPTIST
The Patriots won the Lone Star East Division this season, posting a record of 13-1 while going 18-4 across all their conference games and posting an overall mark of 24-5. DBU won four of the last five games to end the regular season, but got upended by Texas A&M International in the opening round of the LSC Tournament 85-75 in Frisco.
 
After missing a regional last year and posting their first 20-win season since 2019-20, the Patriots have been led by a trio of double-digit scorers headlined by Cameron Kohn, the team's leading scorer at 20.0 PPG and top rebounder at 6.2 RPG while also shooting .569/.333/.734 with 47 assists and 46 steals. Ricky Lujan is next at 15.8 PPG and leads the team in assists with 99 while being one of three players to 50+ steals and has shot .513/.262.754 this season. Trevor Frank round out that trio at 10.3 PPG and has played all but one game off the bench this year, shooting .440/.403/.836 as the team's leading three-point shooter and the second of three players with 50 or more steals at 51.
 
Deng Dut and Ta'Jay Dunlap aren't too far off from making it five player in double figures for the Patriots, as they check in ahead of this weekend at 9.6 and 9.4 PPG respectively. Dut also pulls down 4.6 rebounds per game and has 76 assists and nine blocks while shooting .462 with Dunlap second on the team with 98 assists and leading the ay with 57 steals and shooting .465 with 3.9 RPG.
 
Jaden Shelvin (4.1 PPG, .424 FG%, .345 3FG%) and Justin Haire (3.7 PPG, .449 FG%, 4.0 RPG) might not do much scoring, but make up for it defensively as the only players in double figures when it comes to blocks with 10 and 15 respectively. Austin Garner (6.9 PPG, .362 FG%, .316 3FG%) is also one to keep an eye on defensively with 17 steals.
 
On the season, DBU is scoring 88.5 PPG and is +11.4 in scoring margin, holding opponents to 77.1 PPG. They are shooting .482/.350/.734 and pull down 32.9 rebounds per game while they turn the ball over 13 times per game but are still +7.2 in turnover margin, collecting 11 steals and 2.2 blocks per contest and leading to more than 24 points off turnovers on average. Opponents meanwhile have shot .484/.353/732 this season while also pulling in 32.9 RPG, but have turned the ball over 20.2 times per game while collecting 7.9 steals and 2.9 blocks per night.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers and Patriots have met just once previously and is came all the way back on November 23, 2012 and resulted in a 90-89 Mines win in Golden.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Should Mines pick up a win Saturday night, they'll await the winner of West Texas A&M and Angelo State on Sunday. With a loss, the Orediggers' season will come to a close and the offseason will begin.

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.