RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team has caught fire lately as the Hardrockers continue their assent up the rankings in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as SD Mines prepares for its final two road games of the regular season, traveling to Colorado this weekend for rematches against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Colorado School of Mines.

The 'Rockers are on a six-game winning streak and are 12-7 in the conference, sharing fourth place with Colorado Mesa. Colorado School of Mines has a two-game advantage at third place with a 14-5 RMAC mark and Westminster College and UCCS are both a game back of SD Mines with an 11-8 record, tying them for sixth place, while  New Mexico Highlands holds onto the No. 8 spot with a 10-9 conference mark.  The top eight teams make the RMAC playoffs, set to begin March 3.

The Hardrockers are 15-10 overall  and averaging 76.9 points per game and allowing 68.2 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from three-point range. They also average 34.9 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 11.8 turnovers and 5.3 steals per game this season.
 
Individually, Allec Williams is the top scorer for the Hardrockers at 16.7 points per game, followed by Mitchell Sueker at 14 points per game and Logan Elers at 11 points per game. Sueker leads the team in rebounds (134, 5.4 per game) while Williams leads the team in assists (85) and steals (43). Jack Fiddler leads the team in threes with 49 and is shooting 50.5 percent from long distance this season.
 
First up for the 'Rockers is UCCS, who are 15-9 overall on the year. The Mountain Lions are led by Padiet Wang who averages 16.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 4.3 APG. Blend Avdili also plays a big role, averaging 14.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 2.4 APG. UCCS sits second in the conference for offensive rebounds, averaging 10.2 per game.

As a team, UCCS is averaging 73.8 points per game and allowing 69.3 points per game this season. They are shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 37 percent from long distance while averaging 37.5 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.7 block per game this season. Earlier this season when UCCS challenged SD Mines at home, the 'Rockers dismantled them, 71-49.
 
The game is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the RMAC network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt/#ondemandtab and livestats will be available at: https://gomountainlions.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summar  .
On Saturday, SD Mines will rematch against Colorado School of Mines. Earlier this season in Rapid City, the Hardrockers defeated their Colorado counterparts, 84-69.

The Orediggers have an 18-8 overall record and have five players averaging double-digits, all shooting between a 31-49 field goal percentage. Mason Baker paves the way, with 16.9 PPG and Brendan Sullivan with 13.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG. The team also leads the conference in blocked shots per game, averaging almost 5 per game. CSM has won seven of their last 10 games, falling only to BHSU, SD Mines and New Mexico Highlands, dating back to Jan. 17.

Saturday's tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the RMAC network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt/#ondemandtab and livestats will be available at: https://gocsmorediggers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summar  .