#12/13 Mines (15-3, 9-1) vs. Fort Lewis (13-6, 7-3) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#12/13 Mines (15-3, 9-1) vs. Adams State (8-10, 3-7) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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CROSS FLAGS IN THE AIR
Halfway through their 20-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate for the 2024-25 season, the #12/13 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will look to get back in the win column as they return to Lockridge Arena against Fort Lewis Thursday night and Adams State Saturday afternoon.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This week's game will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will also be available. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
TICKETS PLEASE!
Earlier this month, Mines Athletics launched a new online ticketing platform at tickets.minesathletics.com. With the new portal through Vivenu comes change as well. The biggest change is for Mines faculty, staff, students. Tapping your BlasterCard at the gate will no longer work and tickets must be reserved in advance. To do so, visit tickets.minesathletics.com and click Sign In, then log in with your Mines SSO. Shop for your tickets, and on check out you'll have the option to select either a Mines Student or Mines Fac/Staff ticket. Then scan your ticket at the gate and cheer on the Orediggers! General fans can still purchase tickets in similar fashion as before, just at a new link.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2024-25 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 460-230 overall and a mark of 326-156 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.
 
In this week's Top 25 polls, Mines remained in the top 15 despite suffering a loss to Regis, dropping to #12 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll and #13 in the D2CSC Media Poll. The top four teams in this week's coaches rankings remained the same as Washburn took 15 first place votes in first followed by Daemen in second with one first place ballot. Nova Southeastern and Alabama Huntsville held pat at #3 and #4, but from there the rankings were turned on their head as all the teams ranked fifth through eighth last week suffered at least one loss. Making their top five debut with the highest ranking in program history is fellow STEM school Missouri S&T. MSU Denver meanwhile dropped 10 spots to #23 this week.
 
In the media poll, the top three of Washburn, Nova Southeastern and Daemen remained the same with the Ichaods taking 12 of 14 first place votes with the Sharks getting the remaining two. Alabama Huntsville and Ferris state exchanged fourth and fifth place while MSU Denver just escaped falling out of the rankings at #25.

WEEK 10 RECAP
Mines retained the top spot in the RMAC standings despite a 1-1 week against MSU Denver and Regis. Thursday night in front of a crowd of over 700, the Orediggers rallied in the second half to knock off the Roadrunners 70-66. Majok Deng finished tied for the game high of 19 points while Markus Pastorcic-Straun went for 15 off the bench. Saturday against Regis, a second half rally wasn't to be as the Rangers held on for a 94-91 win. Deng dropped 24 points and was one of five in double figures for the Orediggers. Pastorcic-Straun went for 15 for the third consecutive game while Riley Schroeder had 13. Alex Romack and Reagan Koch each added 10 off the bench in the contest.
 
FOR ALL TIME
Currently in his 24th 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. On January 20 of last season, 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.
 
RMAC RESET
There will not be an unbeaten team in the RMAC this season as with Mines falling to Regis Sunday, they were the last team to slip up in league play in the 2024-25 season. Despite the loss, the Orediggers remain atop the conference standings at 9-1 following by MSU Denver and the Rangers at 8-2. Fort Lewis comes to town two games back at 7-3 in fourth while Black Hills State is three games back in fifth. UCCS, Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo are all tied for sixth at 5-5 followed by Chadron State in ninth at 5-6 and Western Colorado in 10th at 4-6. South Dakota Mines knocked off CSC Tuesday night and is now on three-game winning streak as they stand at 4-7 ahead of Westminster, Adams State and Colorado Christian are all tied for 12th at 3-7 with New Mexico Highlands bringing up the rear at 1-9.
 
BENCH MOB    
Mines' depth has been a massive part of their success this season with their bench being just as good, if not better than, the starting five at times. The Orediggers' reserves have now combined to record five 50-point performances this season and tied their season-high with 55 points in the win against CSU Pueblo two weeks ago. When looking at the national rankings, Mines is fifth nationally in bench points at 40.78 per game. With the likes of Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Alex Romack leading the way along with the re-emergence of Adam Krasovec in his return to play, the nine players that come off the bench on a nightly basis will continue to play a pivotal role as the race for the RMAC championship heats up over the final weeks of the season.
 
TURNING IT ON
Over the last five games, Markus Pastorcic-Straun has been playing perhaps the best basketball of his Mines career to date. The sophomore from Ontario has recorded five straight games with 10 of more points and gone for 15 in each of the last three. What's more during this stretch, Pastorcic-Straun is shooting 25-42 (.595) with 15 assists and seven steals and shown his prowess on both ends of the court.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
Surveying the RMAC leaderboards, several Orediggers find themselves at or near the top of the league in several categories. Majok Deng enters the week fifth in scoring at 15.9 PPG and is the third best free throw shooter in the RMAC at .875 (70-80). Juani Dassie is second in three-point percentage at .463 while Grant Pressly is second in assists at 74 and leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 3.5, the only player above 2.2 in the conference. Jonathan Moore remains tied for seventh in blocked shots with 16 while Markus Pastorcic-Straun is just outside the top 10 in steals.
 
As a team, Mines is second in the RMAC in scoring at 84.6 PPG, trailing only Adams State and is one of just two teams scoring more than 80 per game and is second in the league in scoring defense at 69.0 PPG. The Orediggers are second in the league with a .502 field goal percentage and in three-point percentage at .383. They are just one three-pointer shy of first with 178 while ranking sixth and third respectively in opponent field goal and opponent three-point percentage. Mines is sixth in the RMAC in rebounding average and seventh in total rebounds while showcasing their ability on the offensive glass, ranking fourth in offensive boards. They also lead the league in assist/turnover ratio at 1.54 thanks to a league-leading 350 assists against 228 turnovers. The only team with 300 or more assists in the RMAC so far this season, the Orediggers are also fourth in blocked shots with 61 and steals with 143.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is sixth in the country in assists per game at 19.4 and fifth nationally in bench points at 40.8 PPG. Their 15.6 scoring margin is good for ninth and their 9.9 three-pointers per game is enough for 27th. The Orediggers are also 16th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.54 as well, 13th in field goal percentage at 50.2% and 19th three-point percentage at 38.3%.
 
MILESTONE MEN
Majok Deng is now on the plus side of 100 three-point field goals in his collegiate career with 127 as well as 231 rebounds and is up to 920 points, with 853 of those coming at Mines. Reagan Koch moved past the 400-point mark in his career Thursday and needs 16 rebounds for 200 and is up to 61 steals. Adam Krasovec now sets his sights on 300 field goals and is over both 350 rebounds and 100 assists in his career while chasing 50 blocks.
 
Cade Mankle eclipsed 500 points in his Mines tenure a few weeks back and has 185 rebounds and 178 assists along with 214 field goals and 47 steals. Grant Pressly is on the plus side of 100 career points and is rolled through the 150-assist mark for his career and while setting his sights on 200 rebounds and 50 steals, needing just one more to attain that mark. Markus Pastorcic-Straun also needs one more steal for 50 and Saturday rolled past 400 points in his career. Riley Schroeder blew past the 800-point mark in his career recently as well and depending how the rest of the season goes, 1,000 may still be in a possibility. He also carries 375 rebounds, 148 assists, 60 blocks and 55 steals. Alex Romack meanwhile is 34 points from 500 in just his second season at Mines and his next rebound with make it 300. He also has 38 blocks and stands at 181 made field goals.
 
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 leads the Orediggers in scoring at 15.9 PPG on .457/.351/.875 shooting with 16 steals and 13 assists along with 4.1 RPG. Riley Schroeder's fine season continues as he enters the week at 11.8 PPG and shooting .537/.422/.769 with 32 assists and 10 blocks.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun's stellar sophomore season continues as he's dropped 15 points in three straight games and double figures in his last five, raising his average to 11.1 PPG on .537 shooting as well with 52 assists and a team-best 23 steals. Alex Romack is right behind at 9.6 PPG on and 4.1 RPG and shooting .612 from the field with 19 assists, 15 steals and 11 blocks.
 
Juani Dassie is still scoring 7.8 PPG off the bench and is shooting .511 from the floor and .463 from three with 17 assists, nine steals and six blocks. Cade Mankle is up to 7.3 per night following some strong performances recently and is shooting .464 from the floor and .326 from three with 47 assists and 18 steals. Reagan Koch is shooting .455 on the season and .444 from long range with over half his field goals coming from three along with 33 assists and 13 steals.
 
Grant Pressly remains one of the RMAC leaders in assists with 74 and is scoring 3.1 PPG on .531 shooting and is tops on the team in rebounding as well at 4.9 per night and 83 on the season. Jonathan Moore's 16 blocks lead the team and rank in the top 10 of the RMAC as he scores 5.1 per night with 3.4 rebounds and 29 assists. Adam Krasovec is scoring 5.2 per night on .453 shooting and also has 11 assists, seven steals and six blocks to his ledger.
 
On the year, Mines is scoring 84.6 PPG and is +15.6 in scoring margin with the second best scoring defense in the league at 69.0 PPG. They are shooting .502/.383/.758 as a unit while opponents are shooting .443/.316/.686. Rebounding wise, Mines is +5.0 on the glass with 35.2 per game and averages 19.4 assists per game. They turn the ball over 12.7 times per night and are +1.3 in TO margin, scoring 17.4 PPG off opponent turnovers per night. Defensively, they average 7.9 steals and 3.4 blocks per game as well.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
It took a little bit for a new-look Skyhawks club under the direction of first-year head coach Jordan Mast to find its footing after a 1-3 start, but the 13 newcomers on the 16-man roster have found their grove and are right back in contention in the league standings. FLC has swept their last two weekends of action and enters Thursday on a four-game winning streak after downing CCU 74-38 Thursday before outlasting UCCS Saturday in an 87-84 thriller.
 
Division I transfer Biko Johnson (Nebraska-Omaha) leads the team in scoring as one of three players in double figures at 17.7 per night as a .411/.384/.746 shooter who is also tops on the team in assists (55), field goals (104) and three-pointers (43) while ranking second with 38 steals. Chuol Deng (no relation to Majok Deng), another Division I transfer from Oakland, is second on the club at 14.2 PPG as the team's rebounding leader at 7.8 per game and has 22 steals and a team-best 21 blocks while shooting .426/.326/.731.
 
Tru Allen, a four-year player at Division II Northwest Nazarene, is spending his final season in Durango and is scoring 13.0 PPG on .375 shooting with 43 assists and 24 steals. One of just three returners from last year's team, Stewart Erhart is dazzling in his redshirt freshman season, particularly on the defensive end where he leads the RMAC with 40 steals while averaging 6.5 PPG on .402 shooting with one-third of his 45 field goals being of the three-point variety. JUCO transfer Cassius Carmichael is scoring 6.2 PPG and pulling in 3.7 RPG splitting time between the bench and starting rotation with 27 steals, 24 assists and six blocks while fellow junior college transfer Keither Florence is scoring 6.1 PPG with 3.8 RPG and is second behind Deng with 13 blocks. Both men are shooting better than .539 from the floor this season.
 
Malachi Coleman (5.0 PPG, 25 AST, 26 STL) and Tristan Moore (4.5 PPG, 10 AST, 12 STL) headline the Skyhawks' reserves as all 13 players who have seen time this season have appeared in double digit games.
 
For the season, FLC average 77.2 PPG and is +6.1 in scoring margin. They are shooting .424/.324/.684 as a team while opponents have shot .452/.371/.680. They are -1.4 in rebounding margin at an even 35.0 per night and average 12.4 assists per game. The Skyhawks are +0.9 in TO margin, turning it over just 13.2 times per game and scoring better than 22 PPG off opponent turnovers. Defensively, FLC is by and away the league leader in steals as the only team over 200 with 323 for an average of 12.2 per night while also posting 3.2 blocks per contest.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
The Grizzlies went 1-1 last weekend in a pair of closely contested games, dropping a 92-88 contest Thursday to CSU Pueblo before outlasting Colorado Christian 80-75 in a contest that was played on the campus of Regis Saturday night due to facility issues in Lakewood due to the last blast of winter weather.  Over their last six games, ASU is 2-4 and before heading to Golden Sunday, will be back at the Regis Fieldhouse Thursday night to take on the Rangers.
 
Though they find themselves buried deep in the RMAC standings, it isn't for a lack of offensive output as Adams State is the top scoring unit in the league this season with an astounding six players averaging better than 10 points per game. Jude Tapia leads the way at 16.6 PPG and is also tops on the team with 56 assists and second in steals with 29 while shooting .448/.443/.778. He ranks third in the RMAC in scoring average and his 62 three-pointers are best in the league by a margin of 19. Ta'Veus Randle follows at 13.3 PPG and 3.9 RPG and has a team-leading 30 steals in addition to 28 assists while shooting .361/.333/.818.
 
Jaylen Alexander checks in this week at 11.3 PPG on is shooting .647 and is hauling in just under five rebounds per night as well while finding himself tied for the team lead in blocks with 11. The man he tied with in that category, Wyatt Helming, is scoring 10.7 per night mostly off the bench and shooting .562/.385/.727 with 4.1 RPG. Luke Williams also delivers off the bench at 10.6 PPG as a .481 shooter and is the team's leading rebounder at 5.4 per night and is second behind Tapia with 50 dimes along with 24 steals. John Harge rounds out the group at he scores 10.5 per night as a starter on .557/.368/.855 shooting with 4.6 RPG, 39 assists, 17 steals and six blocks.
 
Cameron Kimble (6.3 PPG, .507 FG%, 32 AST, 21 STL) and Alex Hurr (6.2 PPG, .467 FG%, 18 AST, 6 STL, 4 BLK) are also ones to keep an eye on throughout the matchup.
 
ASU leads the conference in scoring average at 86.9 PPG, but is dead last in scoring defense at 87.3 PPG. They shoot .479/.371/.747 as a unit while opponents shoot .460/.326/.775. they are -3.7 in rebounding margin at 34.4 RPG and average 15.8 assists per game. ASU turns the ball over 17.2 times per night and is -1.6 in TO margin but does score 18.6 PPG off 15.6 opponent turnovers. Defensively, they average 9.2 steals and 2.4 blocks per game with the first figure ranking third in the RMAC and just ahead of Mines.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Against Fort Lewis, the Skyhawks lead the series 60-39 but Mines is 21-23 as the home team. Over the last 10 meetings, the Orediggers are 4-6 and went 1-2 in three meetings last season, dropping a 73-63 contest in Durango before dashing FLC's hopes of an RMAC title the final weekend of the regular season with a 70-65 win in Lockridge Arena. Fort Lewis did get the last laugh with an 87-73 win in the RMAC Tournament semifinals.
 
Against Adams State, the Grizzlies lead the series 90-78 but Mines has won 12 in a row dating back to 2019. All-time at home, the Orediggers are 49-35 against ASU with 10 consecutive home wins dating back to 2015. Saturday will be the second meeting of the season between the schools with Mines picking up an 84-79 win in Alamosa back on December 5.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers hit the road next weekend as they'll head to Western Colorado and Westminster February 6 and 8.

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 @MinesAthlet