Mines (2-6, 0-0 RMAC) vs. Adams State (5-2, 0-0 RMAC) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]
Mines (2-6, 0-0 RMAC) vs. New Mexico Highlands (0-7, 0-0 RMAC) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Golden, Colo [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]

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TITLE DEFENSE BEGINS
With eight non-conference games in the books already, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team now shifts their attention to conference play with a pair of home matchups this weekend as they embark on their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title defense Thursday night against Adams State and a new-look New Mexico Highlands club on Saturday afternoon.

LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's games will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network and feature Josh Tolle on the call. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
As was announced on June 30, this fall the RMAC Network is moving to a pay-per-view model for all events beginning with the 2025-26 season.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2025-26 season will be the 25th 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 476-238 overall and a mark of 335-157 in league play. Under Orser, Mines has won six RMAC regular-season championships and three RMAC Tournament titles and qualified for 14 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was picked to finish second in the RMAC this season in the preseason coaches poll announced in late October. Black Hills State was the favorite to win while the top five behind Mines included Colorado Mesa, UCCS and Fort Lewis.
 
The national top five this week saw Nova Southeastern remain a unanimous #1 followed Washburn, Daemen, Lubbock Christian and Missouri S&T. Black Hills State currently carries the banner for the RMAC as the only ranked team in the conference at #21 in the latest poll.

WEEK 4 RECAP
In their lone action of Thanksgiving week, the Orediggers made to trip to Colorado College last Tuesday and perhaps exorcised some demons along with gaining some confidence and momentum with a 105-72 win. All five starters scored in double figures for Mines which welcomed the return of Jonathan Moore to action. The dynamic big man from Florida just missed out on a double-double in his first action since opening day, ending with 12 points and eight rebounds along with four assists on 4-9 shooting. Freshman Shelton Henton made his first career start and led the way with 18 points behind 6-10 shooting including 5-8 from three-point land. Kellon Johnson continued his double figure scoring streak with 17 points on 6-8 from the floor and 3-4 from deep. The junior duo of Alex Romack and Markus Pastorcic-Straun also had big games, each finishing with a double-double with Romack going for 15 and 10 with a career-high four blocks and Pastorcic-Straun ending with 15 and 11 along with five assists. Cooper Mroczek added nine off the bench while Matija Jordovic chipped in eight in seven minutes down the stretch.
 
HELLO THERE
A total of nine newcomers join the Orediggers this season as the defending champs look to reload for 2025-26. Get to know Jackson Brennan, Will Essman, Shelton Henton, Kellon Johnson, Kasen Lehman, Trent Minter, Cooper Mroczek, Ryan Pramenko and Gil Schayes here.
 
NEW-LOOK OREDIGGERS
With the departure of seven players from last year's championship-winning squad, the Orediggers will look significantly different heading into the 2025-26 season. Alex Romack and Jonathan Moore each started at different times throughout the season while Markus Pastorcic-Straun came off the bench to post a breakout season as a sophomore. That core trio is joined by returners Caleb Clark, Dom Girish, Silas McCurnin and Derek Lamb who will all look to take on larger roles this fall. A trio of young bucks who redshirted last fall are also eager to make an impact this season as Braydon Jacob, Matija Jordovic and Will Cordonnier will play a role in the rotation as well. Combined with the nine newcomers listed above, Mines isn't looking to rebuild this season, but rather reload for another run at the top of the RMAC.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Along with the release of last month's preseason poll, the RMAC announced preseason All-Conference teams and saw the duo of Mines juniors Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Alex Romack earn honors heading into the season. Pastorcic-Straun was a Second Team honoree last fall following a breakout season in which he netted 11.0 PPG off the bench and was second on the team with 90 assists. Romack followed up his Freshman of the Year campaign with Honorable Mention honors as a sophomore as he averaged 3.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting .594 from the floor.
 
LOOKING AROUND THE LEAGUE
With RMAC play having started Tuesday with Black Hills State knocking off South Dakota Mines 104-76, an early check in of the 15 teams in the conference is in order. Preseason favorite BHSU is 6-1 followed by CSU Pueblo and Westminster, though four of the wins for the Griffins have come on back-to-backs against UT Dallas and Navajo Technical College. Adams State is off to a 5-2 start followed by Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa and UCCS all at 3-3. Fort Lewis and Western Colorado are 2-4 followed by Chadron State at 2-5. The Orediggers and South Dakota Mines are both 2-6 with Regis at 1-4, MSU Denver at 1-5 and New Mexico Highlands at 0-7 rounding out the field.
 
FIRST FIVE UP
Last Tuesday's starting five made some history with their collective performance at Colorado College. For the first time since January 30, 2021, all five starters for the Orediggers scored 10+ points. Shelton Henton led the way with 18 followed by Kellon Johnson with 17. Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Alex Romack each netted 15 while Jonathan Moore ended with 12. The last time a Mines starting five accomplished the feat was an 86-70 win over Adams State when Austin Means (16), Brendan Sullivan (16), Michael Glen (13), Kobi Betts (13) and Ben Boone (10) led the way to the win.
 
HE'S BACK
Jonathan Moore's return to the court last week was a welcome sight to be sure for the Orediggers and that feeling was sure to be boosted by his production. The explosive and dynamic big man out of Florida was expected to take on a larger role this season after splitting time as a starter and reserve in 2024-25. Moore's junior campaign looked to be off to a tremendous start on opening day against Central Missouri as he scored 22 points in 24 minutes behind 7-9 shooting including 4-6 from three, but midway through the second half suffered a lower body injury. Mines certainly missed his 6'7" frame, physical play and shooting ability over the following six games and were happy to get him back before the start of RMAC play. Figure Moore to have game-wrecking potential with his ability as he gets his feet back under him heading into league action.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DUO
Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Alex Romack made some history of their last Tuesday, as they each recorded a double-double in the win over Colorado College and became just the sixth pair of teammates to do so in the same game since the 2011-12 season. For Pastorcic-Straun it was the first double-double of his career thanks to 15 points and 11 rebounds while Romack turned in his fifth of the season and the 13th of his career behind 15 and 10. The pair of the first teammates to record a double-double in the same game since Romack accomplished the feat with Sam Beskind against New Mexico Highlands in the 2023-24 season. Romack also went for 15 and 10 in that game as well while Beskind went for 17 and 12.
 
SETTLING IN
Several of the young stars for the Orediggers are starting to find their footing as they get settled in at the collegiate level. Kellon Johnson headlines the list, having scored in double figures in four straight games since entering the starting lineup, averaging 17.3 PPG in that span on .605 shooting. Shelton Henton has had his two best games the last two times out, scoring 11 off the bench on 4-9 shooting against UT Tyler before going off for a game-high 18 last time out at Colorado College on 6-10 shooting. Cooper Mroczek has been building consistency off the bench, scoring 9.3 PPG the last three games along with 5.3 RPG and a pair of steals. Will Cordonnier has also got a pair of double figure outings this season and been held scoreless just once in eight games and is averaging 3.8 RPG, while Trent Minter brings in 4.3 RPG and has 12 dimes to go along with .325 shooting. As the season goes along, the young core of the Orediggers headlined by these five are sure to continue to elevate their game.
 
SHOWING POTENTIAL
Fans need not be distraught by the 0-5 start to the fall after seeing Mines drop just five games a season ago. Over the course of the first two weeks, the five on the floor for the Orediggers has comprised of players playing their first career games while at the collegiate level while at other times, there was just one player with significant experience at this level. Several new names posted big games, such as Will Cordonnier and Will Essman while Shelton Henton, Braydon Jacob and Trent Minter also showed flashes at times. Despite the results, the Orediggers and the coaching staff are confident that the results will come the more games a new-look group gets under their belts.
 
FOR ALL TIME
Ahead of his 25th 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 the 2023-24 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.
 
BUTKOVICH INDUCTED TO MINES HOF
The first All-American in program history, Joe Butkovich was inducted earlier this fall to the Harry D. Campbell Mines Hall of Fame. A prolific scorer and rebounder in the post, Butkovich was named an all-American as a senior in 1971-72, the Orediggers' first national honoree. Upon the conclusion of his career, Butkovich was Mines' all-time rebounding leader with 891 and third on Mines' all-time scoring list with 1,641 points. More than 50 years after graduating, he still owns Mines' career and season per-game rebounding records of 11.7 and 12.3 (1970-71) rebounds per game, respectively, and he also set the record (since broken) for season scoring average with 24.9 points per game in 1971-72; today he ranks third in that category. That senior season saw him lead the RMAC in scoring and rank among the NCAA and NAIA national leaders in both scoring and rebounding, and his top individual games were a 37-point night against Western New Mexico (the Mines single-game record at the time) and 20 rebounds against UMKC. 

Butkovich earned his degree in engineering from Mines in 1972. His post-collegiate basketball career included tryouts with the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls, and he played professionally in France and Belgium before returning stateside to work as an engineer, spending much of his career dismantling chemical weapons across the United States. 
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Markus Pastorcic-Straun leads the team and is second in the RMAC in scoring average at 21.1 PPG thanks to .549/.524/.676 shooting with 32 assists and 10 steals. Jonathan Moore follows at 17.0 PPG and 5.0 PPG with a .611/.455/.875 line. Alex Romack is far off from averaging a double-double with 12.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game with a team-leading 11 blocks along with 19 dimes and eight steals while shooting .465.
 
Freshman Kellon Johnson is next at 9.4 PPG thanks to .560/.345/.692 shooting and is second on the team with 10 three-pointers. Will Cordonnier enters the week averaging 5.6 PPG with 3.87 RPG on .304 shooting with more than half of his field goals being of the three-point variety while adding six blocks and five steals on the defensive end. Shelton Henton is also averaging 5.6 PPG with 12 assists thanks to a .395/.423/.667 line as he finds himself tied with Pastorcic-Straun for the team lead in three-pointers with 11. Freshman big Will Essman is scoring 5.4 PPG with 3.8 RPG on .417 shooting while Cooper Mroczek is scoring 5.1 PPG off the bench with seven three-pointers and has been on the rise the last three games. Trent Minter enters the week with 12 assists, six steals and three blocks from his point guard spot while Braydon Jacob has eight three-pointers, 10 dimes and four steals.
 
As a team, Mines is scoring 76.9 PPG and is +1.8 in scoring margin while shooting .432/.316/.679 compared to .445/.262/.714 by opponents. One of three teams averaging 40+ rebounds per night, the Orediggers haul in 40.6 per game and are +5.4 on the glass while dishing out 15.6 assists per game which ranks fifth in the RMAC. The Orediggers have continued to work on their turnover numbers, cutting them down to 12.5 per game but still find themselves -3.8 in TO margin. They are +1.3 in assist/turnover ratio and score 10.9 PPG off turnovers while defensively are generating 5.9 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
The Grizzlies are one of three five-win teams in the RMAC heading into the opening weekend of league action. Despite the departure of Jude Tapia to Fort Lewis and the loss of John Harge to graduation, ASU has hardly skipped a beat and checks in as the #3 offense in terms of scoring in the conference. The Grizzlies are 4-1 over their last five games and scored 87+ points in each of their wins in that stretch including two 99-point outings while their loss was a 53-point blowout at the hands of Dallas Baptist. Unbeaten at home, Adams State is 2-2 on the road in the early going.
 
Four players who averaged double figure scoring per game last season are back led by Wyatt Helming, who has stepped into a starting role this season and is averaging nearly a double-double with 15.9 PPG and 9.4 APG while shooting .532/.414/.714 with a team-leading 12 three-pointers and 13 blocks. Luke Williams is second on the team at 15.7 PPG behind .452 shooting with a team-high 22 assists along with nine steals. Colorado Mesa transfer Emilek Jallow has shined coming off the bench, scoring 11.3 PPG on .556 shooting and is second on the team with 11 blocks. Ta'Veus Randle, who averaged 13.4 PPG last season, is out as his contributions while missed don't seem to be a hindrance so far.
 
Well-traveled Division II veteran Jarmell Johnson is scoring 8.1 PPG on .444 shooting in his first season in Alamosa after stops at Washburn and Cameron with 17 turnovers on the year. Second-year freshman Jayce King is scoring 7.0 PPG off the bench on .390/.379/.750 shooting and is second on the team with 11 three-pointers along with five steals and seven assists. Jaylen Alexander and Dillan Baker round out the starting five, scoring 6.7 PPG and 5.9 PPG respectively with the former pulling in a team-high 14 offensive rebounds and the latter connecting on seven three-pointers while they each have eight steals.
 
On the season, Adams State is averaging 82.1 PPG but finds themselves -2.7 in scoring margin. They are shooting .463/.275/.648 this year compared to a .424/.371/.688 line for the opposition. ASU averages 38.4 rebounds per game and is -3.3 in rebounding margin while dishing out 15.0 assists per night. Turnovers have been an issue for the Grizzlies, as they cough it up 17.4 times per night and have a 0.9 assist/turnover ration while scoring 19.6 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they are tops in the RMAC in blocks and steals are 36 and 66 for averages of 5.1 and 9.4 per night.
 
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
The Cowboys are still searching for their first win of the Zach Settembre era and come in at 0-7 on the season. They dropped an 97-47 exhibition bout Monday to New Mexico following a 76-58 loss to Western New Mexico last Friday. With a total of 44 players listed on the program's roster for this year and 24 players assigned a jersey number, the Cowboys sport a group with Division I, Division II, NAIA, JUCO and international experience with just one squad member, redshirt Isaiah Maldonado, returning from last season.
 
18 different players have seen action for NHMU in their first seven games and have three players scoring in double figures. Felician transfer Marcus Pierce leads the way with 13.3 PPG and 11 assists on .500/.556/.846 shooting with five three-pointers but missed the last half of November, returning to action Monday with two points in nine minutes off the bench. Northwestern State transfer Dontae Walker checks in at 11.3 PPG with a team-high 12 steals and is shooting .436 from the floor while New Mexico transfer Ibrahima Sacko is scoring 10.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in three games. East Central transfer Nikk Williams is the only player to start all seven games for the Cowboys and is scoring 8.3 PPG and leads the team with 6.7 RPG while shooting .463 with 11 steals and three blocks.
 
Robert Dix is scoring 8.2 PPG across five games with three starts and gone .824 from the line while grad transfer BJ Comer is scoring 6.1 PPG behind .840 from the line to go with a team-high 14 assists, and is one of three players with 20 or more makes from the stripe along with Pierce and Walker. Freshman Latavious Morris has started four times in seven games and while scoring just 4.9 PPG has been productive in other ways with 11 assists and 11 steals.
 
On the season, NMHU is scoring 65.1 PPG and is -14.9 in scoring margin. They have shot .402/.275/.715 this season compared to .472/.325/.770 by opponents. The Cowboys average just 30.9 rebounds per game and are -3.6 in rebounding margin while averaging 10.1 assists per game. They turn the ball over at a rate if 17.4 times per game and are -2.1 in TO margin and just +0.6 in assist/turnover ration while scoring 12.9 PPG off turnovers. Defensively NMHU is tied with Adams State for the league lead in steals with 66 and average 9.4 per game while recording just 1.6 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night will be the 170th meeting between the Grizzlies and Orediggers with ASU leading the series 90-79. Mines has won 13 straight games against Adams State after sweeping the season series last year 84-79 in Alamosa and 97-84 in Golden. All-time at home, the Orediggers are 50-35 with their last home loss coming by a score of 94-91 back in 2015. The most recent win by ASU in the series came in a 60-54 result in January of 2018.
 
Against New Mexico Highlands, Mines leads the series 49-33 and enters Saturday winners of the last six meetings. Last season the Orediggers won 101-85 in Las Vegas and will be playing the Cowboys at Lockridge Arena for the first time since the 2022-23 season. All-time at home Mines is 31-9 against NMHU with the last loss in the series coming during the 2019-20 season by a score of 74-72.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Two more RMAC games await Mines next weekend as they'll head west to take on Westminster and Colorado Mesa on December 11 and 13.
 
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.