#8/10 Mines (19-3, 13-1) vs. Black Hills State (13-9, 9-5) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#8/10 Mines (19-3, 13-1) vs. Chadron State (12-10, 8-6) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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THE RACE HEATS UP
Just three weeks remain in the 2024-25 regular season as the race for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship heats up as the #8/10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team returns to Lockridge Arena looking to retain their position atop the standings against Black Hills State and Chadron State.
 
WEAR GREEN & GIVE GAME
For Saturday's games against Chadron State, Mines basketball is asking all fans to wear green and consider a donation to the Student Emergency Fund. No, green is not one of the Orediggers' official colors, but it's a special occasion. Saturday's game is in honor of women's basketball head coach Brittany Simpson's late sister Annie who tragically passed away early last year. Annie's favorite color was green, and she dedicated her life to those in the midst of emergencies. Any amount and any shade of green would be extremely meaningful to Coach Simpson, her family, and the memory of Annie. Click here for more information on the Mines Student Emergency Fund.
 
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!
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 464-230 overall and a mark of 330-156 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.
 
Mines remained in the top 10 in both national polls this week, moving up to #8 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll while slipping to #10 in the D2 CSC Media rankings. The top four in the coaches poll showed no signs of changes as Washburn, Daemen, Nova Southeastern and Alabama Huntsville held fast with Dallas Baptist rounding out the top five. Missouri S&T, who achieved their first-ever top five ranking last week, stumbled to eighth this week following a Saturday loss to Upper Iowa.
 
As was the case last week, the top four in the media poll remained the same as Washburn, Nova Southeastern, Daemen and Alabama Huntsville were likewise joined in the top five this week by DBU.

WEEK 12 RECAP
Mines had their hands full on the road last week as they packed up and headed west to take on Western Colorado and Westminster. In a pair of tightly-contested games, the Orediggers ran their current winning streak to four games with 68-56 and 60-57 winners.
 
Thursday in Gunnison, Riley Schroeder's 18-point performance proved to be the difference as he shot 7-11 from the floor and 4-6 from three with seven boards, two blocks and two assists. Cade Mankle added nine as all 11 players who checked into the game scored for the Orediggers.
 
Saturday in Salt Lake City, once again all 11 players who saw action for Mines scored in the win against the Griffins led by Alex Romack's 11. Majok Deng added nine with six rebounds while a total of six players had at least four rebounds in the game. In a game that saw 12 ties and 11 lead changes, it came down to free throws at the end as WU staged a late charge and had a chance to force overtime at the buzzer, but the shot found iron instead of nylon as the Orediggers held on for the win.
 
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
Mines and Regis were the first two teams to clinch a spot in the 2025 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship with their wins Saturday and are currently separated atop the league standings by just one game with the Orediggers at 13-1 and Rangers at 12-2. MSU Denver has stumbled in recent weeks and is three games back in third at 10-4. Fort Lewis and Black Hills State are tied for fourth at 9-5 while UCCS and Chadron State are tied for sixth with 8-6 marks. If things ended today, 7-7 Colorado Mesa would be the final team in the tournament as they find themselves the sole occupiers of eighth. 6-9 Colorado Christian and 5-9 Westminster are the first two teams out followed by 5-10 CSU Pueblo. The 4-10 trio of Adams State, Western Colorado and South Dakota Mines along with 2-12 New Mexico Highlands have been mathematically eliminated and will look to build momentum over the next three weeks to carry into next season.
 
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 last month. When looking at the national rankings, Mines is fourth nationally in bench points at 39.27 per game. Headlined by Markus Pastorcic-Straun 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.
 
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 16.1 PPG, 11th in field goal percentage at .467 and is the best free throw shooter in the RMAC at .899 (88-99) while also checking in at sixth in three-point percentage at .368. Grant Pressly is fourth in assists at 84 and leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.9, the only player above 2.2 in the conference. Jonathan Moore is now tied for 10th in blocked shots with 17 while Markus Pastorcic-Straun is tied for 18th in steals.
 
As a team, Mines is second in the RMAC in scoring at 83.1 PPG, trailing only Adams State and is one of just two teams scoring more than 80 per game while boasting the second-best scoring defense at 69.0 PPG. The Orediggers are tops in the league with a .500 field goal percentage and are tied for second in three-point percentage at .383 with Regis and trail only MSU Denver. Their 208 three-pointers are now the high-water mark in the league while defensively Mines is fifth and second in opponent field goal and opponent three-point percentage. The Orediggers are 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 1.42 thanks to a league-leading 418 assists against 294 turnovers. The only team with 350 or more assists in the RMAC so far this season, the Orediggers are also fourth in blocked shots with 75 and steals with 178.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is seventh in the country in assists per game at 19.0 and fourth nationally in bench points at 39.27 PPG while their 14.1 scoring margin is good for eighth. The Orediggers are also 28th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.42 as well, 13th in field goal percentage at 50.0% and 20th in three-point percentage at 38.3%.
 
MILESTONE MEN
Caleb Clark needs just 11 more points to get to 100 in his career and went over 50 rebounds on last weekend's road trip. Juani Dassie is over 100 career field goals and needs 19 more three-pointers to get to the century mark as well.
 
Just 11 points stand between Majok Deng and 1,000 in his collegiate career as he's now over 300 field goals and now has and even 250 rebounds. Reagan Koch needs only 12 points and 12 assists to get to 450 and 150 respectively and is 22 treys back of 100 while two more rebounds will make it an even 200 for him.
 
Nine more assists will see Cade Mankle hit the 200 mark in his career and now has 52 steals on the defensive end. 12 more rebounds for Grant Pressly will make it 200 in his career while his next 10 points will put him at 150. He also has a chance to hit 200 assists as well, currently residing at 176.
 
Alex Romack went over 500 points last time out against Westminster while Riley Schroeder's march to 1,000 continues at 913. Schroeder also has 395 rebounds and his next steal will be his 60th.
 
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
Returning home this week, Majok Deng still leads the team in scoring at 16.1 PPG and sports a .467/.368/.889 shooting line this season with 23 steals and 4.2 RPG. Riley Schroeder is second on the club in scoring at 11.6 PPG and is shooting .522 from the floor and .405 from downtown to go with 42 assists, 12 blocks and 11 steals. Markus Pastorcic-Straun has been enjoying a breakout sophomore season, scoring 10.9 per night off the bench on .523 shooting and .780 from the free throw line while leading the team in steals with 26 and dishing out 58 assists.
 
Alex Romack continues to do his thing, scoring 9.5 points with 4.5 rebounds per game and shooting .613 from the field with 25 assists, 19 steals and 12 blocks of his own. Juani Dassie checks in at 6.9 PPG and remains a three-point threat as a .446 shooting from deep. Cade Mankle is netting 6.8 per night on .447 shooting and has 60 assists along with 23 steals.
 
Reagan Koch is having perhaps the best season of his career in terms of shooting at .480 overall and .467 from three-point land as he averages 6.6 PPG with 39 assists and 16 steals. Jonathan Moore has shifted to the bench in recent weeks but still leads the team with 17 blocks in addition to 10 steals to compliment 33 steals and a 5.5 scoring average. Grant Pressly picks and chooses his scoring spots as a .487 shooter but does his damage dishing the rock with 84 assists along with 25 steals and seven blocks.
 
On the year, Mines is scoring 83.1 PPG and is +14.1 in scoring margin. They are a .500/.383/.753 team compared to a .439/.309/.704 split by opponents. They are +5.1 in rebounding margin at 35.4 and average an even 19 assists per game. Mines does turn the ball over 13.4 times per game and is just +0.4 in TO margin, but does hold a 17.3-14.9 edge in points off turnovers. Defensively they net 8.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
After dropping a 90-77 game to Chadron State to end January, Black Hills State has won three in a row and looks to lock up their postseason spot in the coming weeks. Their recent wins include a get-back 65-44 win over South Dakota Mines, a 75-70 win over CSU Pueblo and a 75-66 win over UCCS.
 
Cam Lowe and Caelin Hearne head up a group of four Yellow Jackets scoring better than 10 points per night as both average 14.9 PPG with very similar splits. Lowe is a .511/.681/.794 shooter and is also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game to go with 18 steals and 12 blocks. Hearne is shooting .466/.379/.714 with 14 steals and 10 blocks. Both players have 117 field goals and 40 assists while Lowe has hit 40 treys to Hearn's 39.
 
Jaeton Hackley is scoring 11.4 per night on .438 from the floor with 74 assists and 32 steals to lead the team in both categories. Tristan Hurdle has mostly come off the bench this season and is scoring an even 11 PPG as the team's top three-point shooter with 53 makes from deep this season, accounting for the bulk of his 69 field goals this season as he's shooting .493 overall and .500 from deep.
 
Joel Speckman is averaging 7.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and has 15 blocks with 12 steals while John Shanklin's 27 blocks leads BHSU and are fourth in the RMAC as he also brings 5.7 PPG and 3.5 RPG to play. BJ Woodruff (4.7 PPG, .356 FG%) is someone else to watch as 20 of his 36 makes this season have been from three-point land as he also has 37 assists.
 
For the season, BHSU averages 76.9 PPG and is +7.7 in scoring margin. they shoot .487/.378/.720 as a team while opponents are just .407/.341/.766. When it comes to rebounding, they pull down 36 per night and are +2.9 in margin. they dish out 13 assists per night and turn the ball over 12.5 times per night and are -1.4 in turnover margin, though they do outscore teams in points off turnovers 14.3-12.6. Defensively they average 5.3 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Another team on a three-game winning streak looking to cement their postseason plans, Chadron State opens a four-game road trip this weekend as they take on MSU Denver Thursday night before coming up to Golden Saturday. Their last three wins have come by scores of 90-77, 62-58 and 81-65 over BHSU, CCU and CSU Pueblo.
 
Zy Wright headline a trio of players for the Eagles averaging double figure scoring at 13.4 PPG and is also the team's leading rebounder at 6.0 per night while shooting .448 from the floor and .794 at the line with 21 dimes and 21 steals. Jalen Thomas follows at 12.5 PPG as a .493 shooter and is second in rebounding at 5.0 per night with team-leading totals in assists and steals with 85 and 24. Trey Ballard is coming off the bench and netting 11.0 per game as a .449/.372/.886 shooter and is tops on CSC with 35 three-pointers.
 
Darrius Miles and Julio Phipps both average 9.7 PPG and shooting .474 and .560 respectively with similar numbers across the board in other categories as well like assists (23, 21) and blocks (16,18). Dalton Peterson (5.7 PPG, .418 FG%, .415 3FG%) is second on the team with 34 three-pointers while John Jenkins (5.0 PPG, .380 FG%) has shown to be a force defensively with 15 steals and 12 blocks.
 
For the season, CSC is scoring 75.0 PPG and is +3.4 in scoring margin. They are a .457/.360/.771 shooting team while opponents have gone .413/.293/.738 this season. They average 37.2 rebounds per game and are +2.8 in margin while dishing out just under 13 assists per game. The Eagles do turn the ball over 13 times per game and are -1.4 in TO margin while defensively they average 6.2 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.  
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines is 16-13 all-time against the Yellow Jackets and 8-5 when playing at Lockridge Arena and will certainly be looking to atone for having their heart ripped out last season by Matthew Ragsdale's buzzer-beater that resulted in an 86-83 BHSU win. In fact, the Orediggers will look to flip the script in a series in which they have lost five of six going back to the 2021-22 season and post their first home win since February 21, 2020.
 
After taking last month's matchup in Chadron, the Orediggers have now won 30 straight games against the Eagles and are 47-44 all-time. When playing at home, Mines is 25-14 with the last meeting in Golden coming in the 2023 RMAC Tournament which resulted in an 87-63 win. Looking through the series history, Mines has not lost since January 24, 2008 and hasn't dropped a home game to the Eagles since February 7, 2003.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
It'll be a short turnaround for Mines next week with two big games looming against two metro area opponents, as they'll head to MSU Denver Tuesday night before returning to Lockridge Arena for the final time in the regular season Thursday night against Regis.

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.