RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines Men's basketball team continues Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend as they take on a pair of cagey Utah opponents at the King Center.

The first game is set for as the 'Rockers face the Dixie State Trailblazers in a 7:30 p.m., first-ever matchup. This is the first year that Dixie State has competed in the conference as the Trailblazers are full members of the RMAC.

Dixie State comes into the weekend with a 2-2 record. After losing their first game to Cal Poly Pomona, 72-66, the Blazers have bounced back to win their next two against Academy of Art, 77-68, and Western Oregon, 80-70. But, most recently they lost to Westminster College, 68-64, in the opening RMAC game of the season.

Junior forward Matt Conway leads the Trailblazers in scoring with 82 points, Conway averages 20.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game and has six blocks this season. He is also fourth in scoring in the conference. The team scores 71.8 ppg, while allowing 69.5.  The head coach of the Blazers is Jon Judkins, who is in his 14th season at the helm.  He entered the 2018-19 season with a 244-117 record. 

On Saturday, the Hardrockers play host to Westminster College, a team that is also a full-fledged member of the league for the first time. The league has played them for the past three years, but the games did not count toward conference standings --- now they do.

Westminster's current record is 3-2, as they lost games against Seattle Pacific University, 81-72, and Western Oregon, 68-59. The Griffins' three wins have come over Central Washington University, 100-97, Academy of Art, 56-50, and most recently Dixie State University, 68-64, in their first RMAC matchup of the 2018-19 season.

The Griffins scores 71.0 points per game and allows 72.0 ppg.  Sophomore guard Brandon Warr leads the Griffins averaging a double-double, with 14.8 ppg and 10.0 rpg. His rebounding average leads the league, while his scoring average is 14th in the RMAC.  Jake Connor also averages double-figure scoring (13.6 ppg). 
 
The Hardrockers are coming off of a heartbreaking lost last weekend to the hands of their oldest rival --Black Hills State as the Yellow Jackets sent the game to overtime on a desperation buzzer beater and then made a last-second shot at the end of the extra period to shock the Hardrockers, 57-56.

SD Mines freshman Mitchell Sueker led the Hardrockers in scoring with 19 points, he was followed by Logan Elers who scored 12. The Hardrockers record moves to 2-6 on the year.

Sueker leads the Hardrockers averaging 11.8 points per game and 5.0 rebounds a game, followed by junior transfer Allec Williams with 10.3 and Ellers with 9.6.