#10/9 Mines (17-3, 11-1) at Western Colorado (6-13, 4-8) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Gunnison, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#10/9 Mines (17-3, 11-1) at Westminster (11-9, 5-7) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Salt Lake City, Utah [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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OVER THE MOUNTAINS
After spending the last three weeks either at home or around the Denver metro area, the #10/9 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be back on the road for two of their final three dates away from Lockridge Arena this season as they head west to take on Western Colorado Thursday night and Westminster 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.
 
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 462-230 overall and a mark of 328-156 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, there was no change to the top five this week in the coaches poll as Washburn, Daemen, Nova Southeastern, Alabama Huntsville and Missouri S&T remained first through fifth. Most of the movement took place behind that group with the remaining 20 teams in this week's poll shuffling up, down or entering the rankings. MSU Denver dropped out this week, but still earned votes as Mines is now the lone ranked RMAC team in the NABC poll.
 
The media poll this week, the top four remained the same as Washburn, Nova Southeastern, Daemen and Alabama Huntsville were joined in the top five by Missouri S&T who jumped all the way up from 10th last week. MSU Denver likewise dropped out of the rankings following their loss to Fort Lewis, leaving the Orediggers as the only ranked team in that poll as well.

WEEK 11 RECAP
Mines capped a 5-0 stretch at home over the last three weeks with 82-79 and 97-84 wins over Fort Lewis and Adams State. Thursday night against the Skyhawks, it was a nail-biter to the end as FLC recorded 19 steals off 25 Mines turnovers. Fort Lewis had multiple chances at the rim in the closing seconds but was unable to convert as Riley Schroeder, one of five Orediggers in double figures, hauled in the rebound before capping the night at the free throw line. He ended with 11 points and one rebound shy of a double-double while Majok Deng dropped 19 and Markus Pastorcic-Straun added 14 off the bench. Alex Romack returned to the starting lineups and chipped in 12 points.
 
Saturday was a fast-paced matchup of the top two scoring offenses in the RMAC as once again, five player finished in double figures in a wire-to-wire winner. Deng dropped a season-best 33, the third 30-point outing of his career and went 11-11 at the free throw line while Pastorcic-Straun netted 14 for the second game in a row and third time in his recent hot streak. Schroeder went for 12 while Reagan Koch had 12 off the bench along with five rebounds as Romack recorded his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 boards.
 
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
Four weeks remain in the regular season as the chase for the postseason heats up. Mines remains atop the standings at 11-1 followed now by Regis at 10-2 and MSU Denver at 9-3 after suffering a seven-point loss to Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks are fourth at 8-4 with 7-5 Black Hills State and UCCS close behind in a tie for fifth. Colorado Mesa and Chadron State each sit at 6-6 and are tied for seventh while the first teams on the outside looking in if things ended today are CSU Pueblo and Westminster at 5-7. The 4-8 trio of Colorado Christian, Western Colorado and South Dakota Mines are next, with 3-9 Adams State and 1-11 New Mexico Highlands bringing up the rear.
 
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 40.25 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.
 
TURNING IT ON
Over the three weeks, Markus Pastorcic-Straun has been playing perhaps the best basketball of his Mines career to date. The sophomore from Ontario has recorded seven straight games with 10 or more points (12-14-15-15-15-14-14), including 14 in both games last weekend. What's more during this stretch, Pastorcic-Straun is shooting 34-63 (.540) with 19 assists and eight 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 third in scoring at 16.9 PPG, ninth in field goal percentage at .477 and is the best free throw shooter in the RMAC at .895 (85-95) following a weekend in which he went 15-15. Juani Dassie is third in three-point percentage at .447 while Grant Pressly is second in assists at 81 and leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 3.1, the only player above 2.2 in the conference. Jonathan Moore remains tied for seventh in blocked shots with 17 while Markus Pastorcic-Straun is just outside the top 20 in steals.
 
As a team, Mines is second in the RMAC in scoring at 85.1 PPG, trailing only Adams State and is one of just two teams scoring more than 80 per game and is fourth in the league in scoring defense at 70.3 PPG. The Orediggers are tops in the league with a .508 field goal percentage and are second in three-point percentage at .386, trailing only Westminster. They are just one three-pointer shy of first with 193 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 1.46 thanks to a league-leading 390 assists against 268 turnovers. The only team with 320 or more assists in the RMAC so far this season, the Orediggers are also fourth in blocked shots with 68 and steals with 162.
 
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 19.5 and fourth nationally in bench points at 40.3 PPG while their 14.8 scoring margin is good for ninth. The Orediggers are also 25th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.46 as well, ninth in field goal percentage at 50.8% and 16th three-point percentage at 38.6%.
 
MILESTONE MEN
Majok Deng is now on the plus side of 100 three-point field goals in his collegiate career with 134 as well as 239 rebounds and is up to 972 points, with 905 of those coming at Mines. Reagan Koch moved past the 400-point mark in his career a few weeks back and needs 10 rebounds for 200 and is up to 63 steals. Adam Krasovec's next game will be the 100th of his career as he looks to chase down 400 rebounds and 50 blocks while going over the century mark in assists a few weeks back as well.
 
Cade Mankle eclipsed 500 points in his Mines tenure last month and has 188 rebounds and 186 assists along with 217 field goals and 48 steals. Grant Pressly is on the plus side of 100 career points and is rolled through the 150-assist mark for his career and now has 50 steals in his career and is 16 rebounds back of 200.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun is now chasing down 500 points in his career and likewise pocketed his 50th career steal over the weekend. Riley Schroeder is seven points back of 900 in his career and depending how the rest of the season goes, 1,000 may still be in a possibility. He also carries 387 rebounds, 150 assists, 60 blocks and 59 steals.
 
Alex Romack meanwhile is 12 points from 500 in just his second season at Mines and with his big weekend on the glass now has 315 rebounds. He also has 38 blocks and stands at 190 made field goals. Jonathan Moore is also now on the north side of 100 career points and has a shot to get to 100 rebounds before seasons' end.
 
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
Following his third career 30-point performance, Majok Deng raised his scoring average to 16.9 PPG and is now shooting .477/.376/.895 this season with 4.1 RPG, 21 steals and 14 assists. Riley Schroeder follows at 11.8 PPG on .529 shooting from the floor and .406 from three-point land with 39 assists, 11 steals and 10 blocks. Markus Pastorcic-Straun ran his double figure scoring streak to seven games over the weekend and is scoring 11.3 PPG off the bench on .521 shooting with 56 assists and a team-leading 24 steals.
 
Alex Romack is now scoring 9.7 PPG and hauling in 4.5 rebounds per game after his double-double Saturday and has 18 steals and 11 blocks to go along with a .626 field goal percentage. Juani Dassie is still averaging 7.2 per game despite seeing his time decrease in recent weeks, but is still a three-point three converting a .447 rate from outside with 38 of his 49 field goals being of the long range variety.
 
Cade Mankle and Reagan Koch are both averaging 6.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per night on .470 and .474 shooting respectively with the former dishing out 35 assists and pocketing 19 steals with the latter shooting .456 from deep on top of his 35 dimes and 15 steals. Jonathan Moore's 17 blocks lead the team as he averages 5.5 PPG on .646 shooting and is a .438 shooter from outside with 31 assists.
 
Grant Pressly (3.0 PPG, .514 FFG%) remains one of the RMAC leaders in assists with 81 to go with 26 steals and five blocks defensively while Caleb Clark (3.0 PPG, 21 AST) nailed some timely three-pointers over the weekend as 15 of his 21 field goals this season has been from behind the three-point line.
 
As a unit, Mines is scoring 85.1 PPG and is +14.8 in scoring margin. They have shot .50//.386/.773 this season compared to .444/.325/.693 by opponents. They pull down 35.3 rebounds per night and are +5.6 in rebounding margin while dishing out 19.5 assists per game. A rough night Thursday drove their turnover average to 13.4 as they are now just +0.5 in TO margin, but score 17.9 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they average 8.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per contest.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN COLORADO
Second-year head coach Zac Claus' team has proved to be a tough group when playing at home this season, with four of their six wins coming in eight games at Paul Wright Gym. After playing their last five games on the road and going 1-4 in that stretch, WCU will look to snap a four-game losing streak against the Orediggers Thursday night.
 
Kade Juelfs, who recently went over 1,000 points in his college career, is one of two Moutaineers scoring 10-plus points per night at 13.2 on .425/.426/.750 shooting while also leading the team with 41 assists and finding himself third with 15 steals. Amar Rivers follows at 10.7 PPG and is shooting .448 from the floor and .778 at the free throw line with 39 assists and 16 steals while leading the team with 13 blocks.
 
Trey Anderson has split time between starting and coming off the bench and is averaging 9.2 PPG on .410 shooting including .362 from three, as he and Juelfs have combined for 217 of Western's 417 three-point attempts. He is second on the team with 12 blocks and also has 21 assists. Tyler Halligan averages 8.6 per night mostly off the bench on .444 shooting with 20 assists and 14 steals, while Andrew Reichart averages 8.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per night.
 
Jamel Hollins (5.1 PPG, .429 FG%) also figures to play a part with his team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game, 38 assists and 16 steals, as does Ty Buckmon (4.0 PPG, .371 FG%) who leads the team with 17 steals and 27 assists.
 
As a team, the Mountaineers are averaging 71.2 PPG and are -2.7 in scoring margin. They are shooting .451/.348/.628 while opposing teams have shot .464/.343/.729 this season. They average 33.5 rebounds per night and are -1.5 in rebounding margin and dish out 13.6 assists per game. They commit 12.2 turnovers per game and find themselves -1.3 in TO margin and score just under 11 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they average 5.8 steals and 2.8 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster enters this weekend coming off a road sweep of Colorado Christian and CSU Pueblo by scores of 75-69 and 72-66 and hosts Regis Thursday night before welcoming Mines on Saturday. Another tough team to play at home, the 11-9 Griffins are 7-2 at home coming to a combined 4-7 when playing on the road or at a neutral venue.
 
Currently four Griffins are scoring better than 10 PPG lead by Chase Potter's mark of 15.0 PPG on .505/.421/.882 shooting. He also has 32 assists and his 17 steals are second on the team and is one of two players with more than 100 made field goals this season and his 24 three-pointers lead the team. Simon Akena follows at 14.2 PPG on .476 shooting with 28 assists, eight steals and six blocks and also has 100 made field goals this season.
 
Donaval Avila checks in this week at 11.4 PPG on .537/.484/.829 shooting with 32 dimes and a team high 24 steals and 11 blocks, while Parker Christensen is netting 10.2 per night mostly off the bench on .472 shooting from the field with a team-best 65 assists and 12 steals. Ryan Rubenskas nets 8.8 per night and is tops on the team with 15 blocks while shooting .598 from the field.
 
From there, Westminster's scoring production drops off precipitously as the remaining eight players who have seen time this year all average between 2.0 and 4.2 PPG. Standouts from that group include Tommy Ball (3.5 PPG, .431 FG%) with his 15 steals and 42 assists and Nicholas Holland (2.4 PPG, .435 FG%) with his 29 dimes and 10 swipes.
 
As a unit, WU is scoring 76.9 PPG and is +3.8 in scoring margin. They have shot .500/.390/.733 this season while opponents have gone .458/.371/.739. They average 32.9 rebounds per game and are +3.0 in rebounding margin and dish out 15.9 assists per game. Additionally, they average 12.8 turnovers per game and are +0.2 in TO margin while scoring 15 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, the record 6.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
All time against the Mountaineers, Mines is 91-99 and 36-57 when playing on the road. The Orediggers enter Thursday night on a five-game winning streak following their last loss in the series, an 83-78 decision in Gunnison during the 2021-22 season. Mines swept the season series last year, first by a tally of 79-61 at the highest collegiate gym in the world before posting a 77-72 result in Lockridge Arena. In their last five trips over the mountains the Gunnison, the Orediggers are 4-1.
 
Following an early season win the opening weekend of RMAC play in Golden, the Orediggers leveled the all-time series with the Griffins at 29-29 with an 85-64 win, their third straight in the series. When playing in Salt Lake City, Mines is 10-19 in 29 games with losses in two of their last three trips west. The last time the teams played in the Beehive State was in the 2022-23 season, which saw the Orediggers win 79-73. Prior to that, Westminster won meetings in the 2021-22 and 2019-20 season by scores of 80-78 and 68-66.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines has three of their final six regular season matchups at Lockridge Arena, starting next weekend when the host Black Hills State and Chadron State February 13 and 15.

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.