(2) Regis (17-12, 14-6) vs. (6) Fort Lewis (19-11, 12-8) – Friday, 5 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets] [Championship Central]
#9/9 (1) Mines (25-4, 18-2) vs. (5) Black Hills State (18-11, 13-7) – Friday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets] [Championship Central]
Winner of Regis/Fort Lewis vs. Winner of Mines/Black Hills State – Saturday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets] [Championship Central]

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AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR
Just four teams remain in the running for the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship as the final three games of this year's event will be contested on the home floor of the top-seeded regular season champions #9/9 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers starting Friday night with semifinal action before crowning a champion Saturday night. The first semifinal of the weekend pits #2 seed Regis against #6 seed Fort Lewis with the second matchup of the evening seeing the Orediggers take on the #5 seed Black Hills State.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are reminded that the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will be implementing a subscription model for all championship broadcasts. Fans will be able to purchase a championship pass for $20 to gain access to all broadcasts of the 2025 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship and watch on-demand, as well as a day pass available for $9.99 to gain access to broadcasts for any single day of action.
 
For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (help@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
Fans are also reminded that there is no passlist for the postseason. Fans are encouraged to purchase advance tickets through Hudl Tickets prior to the event. Single-game general admission tickets are $15 while tickets for children ages 6-17, adults over 65 and military personnel are $10. A two-day pass for both semifinal and championship matches is available for $17. Students of participating schools with a valid ID will be admitted at no cost.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
As mentioned previously, all postseason matches will be available on a pay-per-view basis on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available for each match. Links for video and stats for both matches can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP APPAREL
Fans can purchase officially licensed merchandise for the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship online through the RMAC Online Store powered by BSN Sports. Fans need to shop and place their orders before March 17 and will have their items shipped to their homes following the conclusion of the event. Orders will not be accepted after the store closes. Be sure to shop the wide array of products ranging from headgear to shirts to outerwear. For questions, please contact RMAC Director for Championships and Marketing Audrey Bloomquist at abloomquist@rmacsports.org.
 
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 470-231 overall and a mark of 335-157 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.
 
Following a 1-1 finish to the regular season, Mines found themselves with a matching pair of #9 rankings in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll and D2 CSC Media Poll. The first four teams in the coaches poll remained the same once again this week as Daemen remained atop the rankings with 11 first-place ballots followed by Nova Southeastern with five. Alabama Huntsville and Washburn held steady in third and fourth while West Liberty re-entered the top five in fifth.
 
Likewise, the top four in the media poll also remained the same with Nova Southeastern leading the way with 10 first-place votes followed by Daemen in second with four. Washburn and Alabama Huntsville stayed put in third and fourth as West Liberty also checked in at #5.
 
In the second set of regional rankings, the top five remained the same with Mines leading the way followed by Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Midwestern state and S.t Mary's (TX). Changes started at #6 this week, which was previously occupied by MSU Denver, who now finds themselves completely out of the rankings following a 1-3 finish to the regular season and bowing out of the RMAC tournament Tuesday night to Black Hills State. St. Edward's takes over in sixth after being unranked last week while West Texas A&M vaults up three places from 10th to seventh. Eastern New Mexico ceded one position and is now in the eighth and final spot in the region while Angelo State remains on the outside looking in along with Regis, who dropped two spots from eighth to 10th.

RMAC QUARTERFINAL RECAP
The Orediggers had their hands full Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2025 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship against eighth-seeded Chadron State, rallying late in the second half to secure a 79-74 win. Mines ran out to as much as a 17-point lead in the first half thanks in large part to a blistering start from the three-point line as they went 10-16 in the opening period. Taking a 12-point lead to the break, Mines quickly found themselves down as the Eagles went on a 17-3 run to open the second and leading for most of the period. Markus Pastorcic-Straun, who scored the entirety of his 13 points in the second half, was clutch down the stretch as he scored eight of the final 12 points for the Orediggers including the game-tying and go-ahead buckets in the final 3:18 of action. Cade Mankle led all scorers with a season-high 22 points while Riley Schroeder also went for 13 in 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.
 
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Wednesday the RMAC announced its All-Conference teams and major award winners and the Orediggers were well-represented with five All-Conference selection and two superlative award winners. Head coach Pryor Orser was named Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his tenure after leading Mines to its first league title since 2019 while Majok Deng was named the league's Player of the Year.
 
Deng was selected to the All-RMAC First Team alongside fifth-year man Riley Schroeder who is in the midst of a career season. That duo both surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the careers in recent weeks, both reaching the milestone against Chadron State as Deng did it at home in February while Schroeder did it in Tuesday night's quarterfinal.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun's breakout sophomore season as one of the top sixth men in the RMAC was rewarded with Second Team All-RMAC honors while Alex Romack followed up his Freshman of the Year season last year with his first All-Conference honors, being named an Honorable Mention selection alongside Grant Pressly. Pressly emerged as one of the top passing point guards in the RMAC this season and flourished in his first season as a starter and is one of five players in the RMAC as of the time of writing with over 100 assists this season.
 
Read more about Mines' postseason honors here.
 
POSTSEASON PEDIGREE
One has to go back 17 seasons to find the last time the Orediggers failed to make a postseason appearance. Since the 2008-09 campaign. Mines has made the RMAC Tournament each of the last 16 years but claimed the title just twice in 2012 and most recently in 2017. In that span, the Orediggers have also won six league regular season crowns while all 13 of the programs NCAA Tournament appearances have come in this stretch as well. Under the tutelage of 24th-year head coach Pryor Orser, Mines has made it quite clear that the postseason is the expectation, not the goal and as they embark on the next leg of their season Tuesday, will look to add to their list of accomplishments this 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 turned in five 50-point performances during the regular season and when looking at the national rankings, Mines is fourth nationally in bench points at 38.0 per game and is one of 12 teams in NCAA Division II that has gotten over 1,000 points from their reserves, tallying 1,102 points. Headlined by Markus Pastorcic-Straun, the nine players that come off the bench on a nightly basis will continue to play a pivotal role entering the postseason.
 
BEST IN CLASS
It goes without saying that by winning the RMAC regular season title, Mines was at or near the top of the conference in several statistical categories this season. When it came to scoring offense, Mines was one of two teams to average better than 80 points per game at 82.2 while also registering the second-best scoring defense at 68.4 PPG to lead the league in scoring               margin at 13.9. The Orediggers also led the RMAC in field goal percentage at .501 as the only team to shoot over 50% in the regular season and were second in three-point percentage at .379. On the defensive side, Mines ranked fifth in defensive field goal percentage at .434 and third in defensive three-point percentage at .313.
 
When it comes to rebounding, Mines was fifth in the conference with 999 for an average 35.7 per night and fourth on the offensive glass with 297, good for 10.6 per game. The Orediggers were also the only team in the RMAC to dish out more than 500 assists this season at 517 and led the conference by a wide margin while their 95 blocks were third and their 227 steals were fourth.
 
Individually, Majok Deng was fifth during the regular season in scoring average at 14.9 PPG and tied for fourth in scoring with 418 points. Riley Schroeder's .530 field goal percentage ranked fourth among eligible players while Grant Pressly's 101 assists made him one of five men in the regular season to hit the century mark. He also led the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 3.0 and was the only player with a ratio above 2.2. Jonathan Moore and his 22 blocks ranked ninth this season while the 33 steals by Markus Pastorcic-Straun ranked just outside the top 20.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is ninth in the country in assists per game at 18.5 and fourth nationally in bench points at 38.00 PPG while their 13.6 scoring margin is good for eighth. The Orediggers are also 22nd in assist/turnover ratio at 1.44, 10th in field goal percentage at 50.2% and 19th in three-point percentage at 38.2%.
 
1K CLUB
Mines can lay claim to something very teams nationally can and that's having not one but two active 1,000 points scorers on the roster. Majok Deng surpassed the milestone on February 15 at home against Chadron State in his sixth season of collegiate action between Pepperdine and Mines while Riley Schroeder moved to the north side of 1,000 in Tuesday night's semifinal against the Eagles. Those two have been at the forefront of the offense for the Orediggers this season and for them to continue their success in the postseason, the duo will need to continue to produce at the level they have all season.
 
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 remains the team leader in scoring and enters the semifinals averaging 14.7 PPG with a shooting line of .450/.349/.879 while collecting 3.8 RPG and recording 28 steals with 19 assists and seven blocks. Riley Schroeder follows at 12.3 PPG and has shot .531 from the floor this season and .404 from downtown while hauling in 3.5 RPG and dishing out 53 assists with 18 steals and 14 blocks on the defensive end.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun is scoring 10.7 PPG off the bench this season following 13 points in the quarterfinals and is shooting .547 from the floor and leads the teams with 33 steals and is now up to 80 assists on the year. Sophomore running mate Alex Romack leads the team in rebounding at 4.7 per game while scoring an even nine points per game pm .600 shooting with 26 steals and 14 blocked shots. Cade Mankle is next moving down the list at 7.8 PPG following his season-best 22 Tuesday against Chadron State and has shot .458 this season and 3.82 from three with 76 assists and 32 steals.
 
Reagan Koch has shined off the bench this year, scoring 6.9 PPG and shooting .500/.500/.811 with 51 rebounds and 20 steals. Juani Dassie nets 6.4 per game and is shooting .472 from the floor and .427 from long range with 12 steals while Adam Krasovec is scoring at a 5.6 PPG clip and shooting .491 overall and .400 from three.
 
Jonathan Moore leads the team in blocked shots with 22 and has come off the bench in recent weeks, scoring 3.0 PPG for the season and pulling in 4.6 RPG while shooting .614 and dishing out 38 assists while pocketing 10 steals. Caleb Clark remains a threat as a spot-up shooter, going .437 from the floor with 19 of his 31 field goals being of the three-point variety while Grant Pressly has been one of the top delivery men in the RMAC this season, racking up 107 assists and shooting a selective .421 from the floor while hauling in 4.6 RPG and coming up with 32 steals.
 
For the season, Mines is scoring 82.1 PPG and is +13.6 in scoring margin. They are shooting .502/.382/.743 as a team compared to a .436/.312/.709 line by opponents. They pull down 35.4 rebounds per game and are +5.0 in rebounding margin and rank among the national leaders in assists per game at 18.5. The Orediggers turn it over 12.8 times per game and are just +0.5 in TO margin but score nearly 17 PPG off opponents' turnovers. Defensively, they register an even eight steals and 3.3 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets already have one road win their pockets this postseason with a 79-69 win over MSU Denver in Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup. Entering Friday night, BHSU has won three straight games and five of their last six.
 
RMAC Freshman of the Cam Lowe is one of four players averaging double figures for Black Hills State at 15.5 PPG and is also the team's leading rebounding at 7.9 per game while shooting .494/.395/.824 with 55 assists, 24 steals and 12 blocks. Caelin Hearne follows with at 14.1 PPG with a line of .451/.386/.742 this season to go with 54 assists, 20 steals and 13 blocks.
 
Jaeton Hackley's 109 assists lead the team and is among the RMAC leaders as he's also scoring 11.9 PPG on .430 shooting with 27 three-pointers while leading BHSU in steals with 38. Tristan Hurdle rounds out the quartet at 10.4 PPG off the bench, shooting .486 from the floor and .489 from long range with all but 20 of his 89 field goals being of the three-point variety.
 
Joel Speckman, John Shanklin, Jack Haggett and BJ Woodruff have all split time as starters and reserves this season and all average better than five points per game. Speckman nets 7.6 PPG on .573 shooting inside and hauls in 5.7 RPG and has 52 assists to go with 21 blocks. Shanklin leads the team with 35 blocks and ranks four in the RMAC while shooting .720 from inside with 3.4 RPG. Haggett scores 5.3 per night on .571 shooting while Woodruff checks in at 5.1 PPG on .347 shooting with 32 of his 52 makes this season coming by way of three-pointers while also adding 50 assists and registering 14 steals defensively.
 
As a team, BHSU is scoring 77.0 PPG and is +7.3 in scoring average while shooting .478/.389/.724 this season compared to .417/.339/.753 by opposing teams. They pull down 36.2 rebounds per game and are +2.9 in rebounding margin and dish out 13.8 assists per game. The Yellow Jackets do a good job with ball security, turning it over just 11.8 times per game but still find themselves -1.1 in TO margin while scoring 12.8 PPG off turnovers. On the defensive side, they average 5.2 steals and 3.7 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
The RMAC runners up this season had their hands full Tuesday night, needing overtime to advance over UCCS with a 93-90 win in the second matchup of the teams in four days. The Rangers have won back-to-back games after dropping four straight running from February 15-27.
 
First Team All-RMAC selection Chase Mayo Harmon leads RU in scoring as one of four players in double figures at 15.7 PPG behind .438/.341/.831 shooting this season in addition to 3.1 RPG, 59 assists and 17 steals. Jalen Brown has come off the bench this season and scored 13.5 PPG on the strength of .476/.356/.747 shooting and is third on the team in rebounding at 4.7 RPG with 21 steals.
 
Kobe Sanders averages 11.6 PPG and is shooting better than .440 from the field and .420 from three-point range with a team-leading 68 triples this season on top of 120 assists. Eddy Egun rounds things out at 11.3 PPG while shooting .528 from the floor, .430 from three and .804 at the line with 50 assists, 36 steals and 14 blocks.
 
Trey Bryant's 40 steals leads the Rangers while he also scores 9.7 PPG on .513 shooting with nearly one-third of his 97 field goals coming from behind the three-point line in addition to pulling down 4.9 RPG and blocking 18 shots while Jalen Page's 19 blocks leads RU as he's shot .544 from the floor this season.
 
As a group, Regis is scoring 74.9 PPG and is -1.3 in scoring margin. They have shot. .470/.365/.756 this season while opponents have gone .470/.349/.736. They average 30.9 RPG and are -2.3 in rebounding margin while distributing 13.9 assists per game. The Rangers turn the ball over 12.2 times per game and are -1.2 in TO margin while scoring 13.9 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, the pocket nearly six steals and record almost three blocks per contest.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
All-RMAC First Teamer Biko Johnson headlines a trio for the Skyhawks scoring better than 12 points per game at 16.8 on .401/.355/.734 shooting as he has also registered 77 assists and 62 steals. Chuol Deng, another All-RMAC selection, scores 13.3 PPG and is tops on the team in rebounding at 7.5 RPG as well as blocks with 30 while shooting .398 from the floor and .324 from three.
 
Tru Allen rounds out the group at 12.8 PPG behind .380 from the field with 95 assists and 56 steals. Stewart Erhart leads the RMAC and is among the national leaders in steals with 77 in 30 games while scoring 8.0 PPG and shooting .454 from the floor. Cassius Carmichael has started 19 times this season and scores 7.1 PPG on .515 shooting with 50 steals and 18 blocks while Keither Florence has 15 starts and scores 6.3 PPG behind .543 from the floor and adds 25 steals and 14 blocks on defense.
 
AJ Riggs and Malachi Coleman are also ones to watch, each scoring better than 5.0 PPG with the former going .490 from the field and the latter recording 37 dimes and 33 steals.
 
For the season, FLC is scoring 79.6 PPG and is +5.8 in scoring margin while shooting .431/.334/.692. Opponents have posted a line of .456/.363/.737 comparatively. They record 34.2 rebounds per game and are -2.6 in rebounding margin and pass out 12.4 assists per game. The Skyhawks also turn it over 12.4 times per game but thanks to their eye-watering steal totals find themselves +7.2 in TO margin, scoring 22.1 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they net 12.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Against the Yellow Jackets, Mines is 17-13 in 30 previous meetings with a mark of 9-5 at home, and has taken the win in two of the last three meetings after losing four out of five before that. The lone regular season meeting in Golden less than a month ago resulted in an 87-77 Oredigger win. The teams last met in the postseason in the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Canyon, Texas where BHSU posted a 68-48 win. The last meeting between the schools in the RMAC Tournament came in the 2021 edition of the event with Mines notching a 71-64 win in Grand Junction.
 
The Orediggers moved ahead in the all-time series with Regis back on February 20 with an 83-52 win that saw them clinch the RMAC regular season title. In 143 all-time meetings, Mines is 72-71 overall and 43-30 when playing as the home team. Mines has taken six of the last seven games in the series with the Rangers, the lone blemish a 94-91 loss to RU on the road in January of this season. It's been awhile since the team faced each other in the postseason as you need to go back to the 2018 conference tournament which Regis won 89-83 in Durango.
 
Looking at Fort Lewis, they lead the series with Mines 60-40 and are 23-22 when playing the Orediggers on their home court. The Orediggers won a thriller against the Skyhawks in the regular season back on January 30, rallying from down seven at halftime for an 82-79 victory. The teams last met in the postseason in last year's RMAC semifinals, a game in which FLC posted an 87-73 win in Grand Junction after seeing the regular title slip away in a 70-65 loss to Mines in the final game of the regular season.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
With a win, the Orediggers will advance to the RMAC Tournament championship against the winner of Regis and Fort Lewis. With a loss, Mines will wait for Selection Sunday to see where they'll head and who they'll play in the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

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.