#25 Mines vs. Colorado Christian, Saturday, 3 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

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IN THE HUNT
Mines enters the weekend a game back of Fort Lewis for first place in the RMAC, having secured an RMAC Tournament berth last weekend via other results around the league. Mines and FLC have yet to play this season; winning out would assure the Orediggers of at least a share of the RMAC title. Mines could potentially clinch a home RMAC Tournament quarterfinal with a win over CCU and losses by Regis and MSU Denver this weekend.

IN THE POLLS
After their 1-1 weekend, Mines fell from #19 to #25 in the NABC Top 25 poll.

CLARE NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ben Clare earned his first career RMAC Player of the Week honor on Monday, being named the defender of the week. Clare averaged 12.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game against Regis and Chadron State, including a career-high 14 rebounds – 13 of them defensive – with a steal at Regis and a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double with a career-high four blocks at Chadron State.

ALL GOOD THINGS…
Mines' loss at Regis last Friday snapped an 11-game streak. Mines has put together 10+ game win streaks in each of the last four seasons.

OREDIGGERS GARNER ACADEMIC HONORS
Gokul Natesan was selected as CoSIDA Academic All-District and the RMAC Academic Player of the Year in the past week, with the senior guard repeating both honors from last year. In the RMAC honors, Natesan led seven Orediggers on the academic honor teams with Ben Clare, Zach Rusk, Ben Sonnefeld, Murphy Gershman, Luke Golter, and Brandon Lueders being named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll for carrying GPAs over 3.3.

NATESAN MOVING UP
With 1,808 career points, Gokul Natesan is in rare company. He is currently seventh all-time at Mines in scoring and could surpass Kyle Pape (1,820 from 2005-09) this weekend. Last weekend, he became the second Oredigger to sink 500 free throws in a career.
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WHEN WE LAST MET
Mines and CCU played a classic in their first meeting back on Jan. 24, with the Orediggers escaping Lakewood with a 76-75 win. Gokul Natesan scored 17 and Kaan Korkmaz had 13 off the bench, while Murphy Gershman sank two crucial late three-pointers as Mines held off CCU's charge in the final minute. Dimitri Saliba had 20 points and Brett Brady 21 for the Cougars.