RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Two weeks ago, the South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team slipped from the Top 8 of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings after dropping two conference games on the team's longest road trip of the season.

The 'Rockers are back on the inside of the bubble this week --- after another road trip netted much better results. SD Mines now boasts an 11-10 overall record and a 8-7 mark in the RMAC, putting them in the No. 8 spot and currently eligible for post-season play.

As SD Mines plays host to New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo this week, the Hardrockers have the opportunity to exact a little pay back as those were the two programs that tripped up the Hardrockers two weeks ago and dropped SD Mines in the league rankings.

Last week the Hardrockers demolished MSU Denver, 80-51, in Denver, Colorado, leading by as many as 43 points early in the second half. It was the worst outing of the season for the Roadrunners. SD Mines backed that up with a solid victory over Chadron State College, 88-77, on Saturday in Nebraska.

SD Mines is currently ranked ninth in the RMAC for offense, scoring 75.8 ppg while the defense is ranked second, allowing 69.2 ppg.

Allec Williams, who scored his 1,000-point in his collegiate career last Friday against his former team, leads the 'Rockers, and is 14^th in the RMAC, averaging 15.2 ppg. Mitchell Sueker is also producing good numbers, averaging 13.4 ppg.

Logan Elers, who also breached the 1,000-point career mark last weekend, was named the RMAC All-Academic Player of the Year earlier this week. He is scoring 11 ppg and leads the team in rebounding averaging 5.4 rpg.  Damani Hayes, Sueker and Williams are all notching just under 5 rpg.

New Mexico Highlands University is 9-6 in conference play and sitting fourth in the conference standings. They lead the league in points per game averaging 88.9.

Sammy Barnes-Thompkins and Raquan Mitchell lead the Cowboys and the conference in scoring with 25.1 ppg and 24.9 ppg respectively. Collectively, the team averages 10.4 offensive rebounds per game and leads the RMAC in the turnover margin, making their opponents average 16.9 turnovers compared to their 12.9 tpg.

Friday's game is set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. and the matchup will be streamed live on the RMAC Network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt and livestats will be provided at: https://gorockers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary .

The Thunderwolves will be in town Saturday. CSU-Pueblo is coming off two RMAC losses to Colorado School of Mines and UCCS. They are 7-8 in conference play and a game behind the Hardrockers. They head into the weekend on the outside looking in of making tournament play. The Thunderwolves are led by David Simental with 18.1 ppg, which places him fourth in the conference.

Saturday's matchup is slated for a 6 p.m. start with the contest being streamed live on the RMAC Network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sdsmt and livestats will be provided at: https://gorockers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary .