COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- South Dakota School of Mines freshman Mitchell Sueker was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of The Year announced by the league office Tuesday in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sueker, along with junior Logan Elers were also both named to the 2018 All-RMAC Men's Basketball Second Team.
 
Sueker had a phenomenal season in his debut as a Hardrocker. The 6-foot-9-inch forward from Marshall, Minnesota, tallied 411 points on the season to average 14.7 per game. He ranked 14^th in scoring in the RMAC and had a field goal percentage of nearly 50 percent – which ranked him ninth in conference overall standings.
 
The Electrical Engineering major also notched 33 three-pointers on the season, hauled in 146 rebounds to averaging 5.2 per game and ranked 15^th in the RMAC with defensive rebounds (119). He was also credited with 17 blocks and 46 assists this year.
 
"This is a great honor for Mitch to receive and I couldn't be more proud of him," said Hardrocker head coach Eric Glenn. "Mitch is an extremely driven individual and I expect this to be just the beginning of many accolades in his career."
 
Despite missing the final two games of the season, Sueker led the Hardrockers in scoring, cashing in for double-digits in his final 10 games. He had a career high 32 markers against Chadron State in early February which earned him an RMAC Offensive Player of the Week recognition.
 
"As a freshman, Mitch has been our most consistent and leading scorer. His ability to play in the paint and stretch the floor out to the three-point line makes him a difficult match-up," Glenn said. "He is a very capable ball handler against pressure and is not far off in the rebounding categories that would put him at the top of the league as well."
 
Elers is a 6-7 forward from Rotorua, New Zealand collected 359 points on the season, averaging 12 ppg. He was a force under the basket tallying 189 total rebounds for the Hardrockers (57 offensive, 132 defensive) and ranked 12^th in the RMAC.
Elers was also selected twice as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week 
 
"Offensively, Logan would draw double teams when he received the ball and is an excellent passer that averaged 2.2 assists per game," Glenn said. "He was very instrumental in our upset win over Colorado School of Mines. Logan is the leader of our team and when he is not present, there is a noticeable difference in our team."
   
Colorado School of Mines' (CSM) Ben Sonnefeld led the 2018-19 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Men's Basketball All-Conference teams as the RMAC Player of the Year. Teammate Ben Clare and Julien Ducree of Dixie State were named Co-Defensive Players of the Year and South Dakota Mines' Mitchell Sueker was named Freshman of the Year. CSM's head coach Pryor Orser was tabbed Coach of the Year, announced on Tuesday.
 
The major awards, along with All-RMAC First and Second Teams were voted on by the conference's 16 head men's basketball coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes. Student-athletes who received one First Team vote or two Second Team votes were named Honorable Mention.
 
Sonnefeld received Player of the Year honors. He was named to the Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District team for the second consecutive season last week. Now a graduate student academically, Sonnefeld holds a 3.73 cumulative GPA having earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering last December. He is now pursuing his master's degree in engineering and technology management. This season he is having a career year averaging 14.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game. He currently leads the RMAC in total assists with 126.
 
Ducree was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year. He has been a pivotal member of the Trailblazers who are on a current 13-game winning streak. The Rancho Cucamonga, California native is sixth in the RMAC in blocked shots with 29 this season. He is also sitting in 14th in offensive rebounds with 47.
 
Clare was also named Co-Defensive Player of the Year. He earned preseason All-RMAC honors at the beginning of the season and earned First-Team All-Academic accolades in February. The redshirt senior from St. Petersburg, Florida, finished the regular-season as the conference's field goal percentage leading player at .585.
 
Pryor Orser of Colorado School of Mines earned his fifth RMAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year after finishing the regular season 24-4 overall (21-1 RMAC). Currently in his 18^th season at Colorado School of Mines, Orser has guided the Orediggers to five regular-season titles, making this their 10^th title in program history.
 
The RMAC Tournament begins tonight with quarterfinal matchups at the higher seeds. For more information visit RMACSPORTS.org/MBB2019.
 
First Team
Mason Baker, Colorado School of Mines
Jarrett Brodbeck, Regis
Matt Conway, Dixie State
Gerad Davis, New Mexico Highlands
John Dewey, Adams State
Christian Little, Regis
Fraser Malcolm, Black Hills State
Raquan Mitchell, New Mexico Highlands
Connor Nichols, Colorado Mesa
Ben Sonnefeld, Colorado School of Mines*
 
Second Team
Druce Asah, MSU Denver
Blend Avdili, UCCS
Marquel Beasley, Fort Lewis
Ben Clare, Colorado School of Mines &
Logan Elers, South Dakota Mines
Tyler Oliver, Black Hills State
Mitchell Sueker, South Dakota Mines^
Dalton Walker, UCCS
Padiet Wang, UCCS
Brandon Warr, Westminster
 
Honorable Mention
Davere Creighton, Adams State
Dez Stoudamire, Black Hills State
Diontae Champion, Chadron State
Braxton Tucker, Colorado Christian
Brandon Hoffer, Colorado Mesa
Tommy Nuno, Colorado Mesa
Michael Glen, Colorado School of Mines
Donovan Oldham, CSU-Pueblo
Julien Ducree, Dixie State&
Jack Pagenkopf, Dixie State
Alex Semadeni, Fort Lewis
Kendall McIntosh, MSU Denver
Jordan Jones, New Mexico Highlands
Nnamdi Okoro, New Mexico Highlands
Ryan Beisty, Regis
Brady Subart, Western
 
* - Player of the Year
& - Co-Defensive Player of the Year         
^ - Freshman of the Year