Ryan Wells
Terrance Vaughns
Justin Collins
Michael Clarke
GOLDEN EAGLES SUCCESS CONTINUES WITH EIGHTH STRAIGHT PSAC PLAYOFF APPEARANCE
Clarion active PSAC leader in playoff showing
No seniors? Two sophomores as captains? No returning players above the sophomore class? No problem.
Despite playing with possibly the youngest lineup in school history, the Clarion University men’s basketball team continued its run of success in 2003-2004 coming up with a PSAC leading eighth straight PSAC playoff berth after going 16-12 overall and 6-6 in the PSAC-West. It was the 12th time in 16 years under head coach Ron Righter that Clarion has won at least 15 games, and it marked the eighth straight year the Golden Eagles have had at least six PSAC-West wins. In that span, Clarion has won nearly 68 percent of all its games (150-72) nearly 64 percent (61-35) of all its conference games while winning one PSAC title (2001) and two PSAC-West titles (1997 and 2000) and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament once (2001).
What made this year’s run to the postseason maybe the most impressive of the eight in a row is the fact that Clarion did it despite not having a single senior on the roster. The Golden Eagles had to replace 43.2 ppg, 17.6 rpg, 250 assists and 168 steals from a year ago, a team that went 19-10 and made it to the PSAC semifinals.
Replace it they did. Using a team approach that saw eight player score 4.1 ppg or more including five with 5.3 ppg or above and three in double figures, Clarion nearly duplicated last season’s point totals (67.3 ppg in 2004 compared to 70.0 ppg in 2003) while outrebounding opponents 36.1 rpg to 33.0 rpg, something that last year’s team didn’t accomplish.
Junior Ryan Wells, the son of Clarion Hall of Fame basketball standout Reggie Wells, Sr. and the brother of former Clarion football standout and current Arizona Cardinal Reggie Wells, Jr., was the leader of the pack in his first season with the Golden Eagles earning first-team PSAC-West honors after finishing third on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and first in rebounding (8.6 rpg) while also notching 47 assists, 60 steals and five blocked shots. He finished tied for fourth in the PSAC in rebounding and was 43rd in the nation in the category. He also finished fourth in the PSAC and 39th in the nation in steals per game (2.1). What made Wells’ performance all that more impressive is that as a 6-2, 210 pound forward in a guard’s body he was asked to play against players four or five inches taller and 30-40 pounder heavier than him all season. Wells led the Golden Eagles in scoring in 10 games including the last eight regular-season games. He also led the team in rebounding in 16 contests.
Wells didn’t have to go at it alone, though. He got help from sophomore co-captain Terrance Vaughns, who led Clarion in scoring (12.0 ppg) while adding 68 assists, 46 steals and 3.7 rpg, and first-year sophomore Michael Clarke, who added 11.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 17 blocks, 34 steals and 22 assists. Vaughns finished fourth in the PSAC and 27th in the nation in the free-throw percentage at 86.2 percent, while Clarke was 12th in the PSAC in rebounding.
Vaughns’ success continued a solid two-year career for him. In two seasons at Clarion, he has scored 636 points, grabbed 244 rebounds, dished out 134 assists and come up with 96 steals.
Also contributing for the Golden Eagles in 2004 were sophomore co-captain Justin Collins (8.8 ppg, 46 percent from 3-point range – 57-124), freshman point guard Bobby Franklin (5.3 ppg, 45 assists, 33 steals), first-year junior point guard Lee Church (4.6 ppg, 81 assists, 35 steals), sophomore Shamar Green (4.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and first-year junior Robert Wordlaw (4.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg). Collins led the PSAC in three-point percentage and was eighth in the conference in three-pointers per game.
Collins has had a solid two years at Clarion as well scoring 343 career points while hitting 75 career three-pointers.
Clarion started the season on fire winning 10 of its first 12 games including a stretch that saw it win 11 of 12 including a season-high six-game winning streak from Dec. 18-Jan. 11.
The season started with the Golden Eagles going 1-1 at the Pitt-Johnstown Tournament losing the opener 78-67 to Alderson-Broaddus before coming back to defeat the host Mountain Cats 87-74 behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Clarke and 21 points from Collins.
Clarion followed with three more wins including a come-from-behind 62-60 win over Mercyhurst in the home opener, a 72-48 win over Mansfield and a 75-65 victory over highly touted Mansfield.
Following a 76-70 loss to Cheyney, Clarion came back to win six straight. The streak started with a 76-68 defeat of eventual PSAC finalist Kutztown and continued with wins at West Chester (57-52) and at defending PSAC champion Millersville (57-47). A brief stop at home came with a 111-46 win over Penn State-DuBois before the Golden Eagles got two more road wins at East Stroudsburg (62-53) and at Bloomsburg (59-55) to run their record to 10-2.
The PSAC-West opener saw the Golden Eagles drop a close one at home to California (56-51), and then the Golden Eagles hit the road to Washington, DC, losing to the District of Columbia in another barnburner 76-70. Collins scored a career-high 26 points in the loss at UDC.
Clarion quickly put the two-game losing streak behind answering with a four-game win streak.
The streak started with a 64-58 win at Slippery Rock and continued with an impressive 100-83 win at eventual PSAC champion IUP Jan. 24.
In the IUP game, the Golden Eagles were on fire from behind the three-point arc connecting on a school-record 70 percent of its three-point attempts (14 of 20) while becoming the first team since the 1990-91 season to score 100 points on IUP. Clarke had 29 points, while Vaughns and Collins each had 24. Collins tied a school record for three-point shooting percentage going an amazing 8-for-8 from behind the arc. The performance at IUP capped an incredible week for Collins, who was named the PSAC-West Player of the Week after averaging 19.7 ppg while hitting 76.2 percent (16 of 21) of his three-pointers and 70.4 percent (19 of 27) of his shots. He became the third Golden Eagle in 2003-2004 to be named Player of the Week joining Wells (Jan. 5) and Vaughns (Jan. 12).
Clarion kept the momentum from the IUP win going with two straight home victories including a 72-57 win over Lock Haven behind a career-high 25 points from Wells and a 71-64 win over Shippensburg with Vaughns scoring 23.
Following the win over Shippensburg, things looked bright for the Golden Eagles at 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC-West, but then a strange thing happened. Clarion couldn’t buy a win over the next 23 days losing seven straight, most of them in heartbreaking fashion.
The streak started in an ominous way with the Golden Eagles falling 98-92 in overtime to the University of the District of Columbia. UDC overcame a late deficit and hit a desperation three-pointer after the initial three had been blocked at the end of regulation to force overtime before topping Clarion in the extra session.
It was then Edinboro’s turn to break a late tie with a basket in the final 30 seconds to knock off the Golden Eagles 64-60.
The next two losses weren’t as heartbreaking with Pitt-Johnstown topping Clarion 70-54 and California knocking off the Golden Eagles 66-43.
However, the next loss, a 67-65, setback to IUP might have been the low-point of the season. Clarion led by 10 with under five minutes to play only to watch IUP rally to within one and then hit a three-pointer with under five seconds left to win the game. Still down from the loss to IUP, the Golden Eagles were upset 68-57 at Lock Haven leaving a spot in the PSAC Playoffs in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, like all good teams, Clarion rallied winning its final two regular-season games to clinch its eighth straight playoff appearance.
The clinching actually took place in the last home game of the season, Feb. 25, against Edinboro in dramatic fashion. The Golden Eagles trailed the Fighting Scots by 15 points, 30-15, with 4:23 left in the first half but went on a 13-0 run to close the first half down by just two, 30-28.
The run quickly became 17-0 early in the second half with Clarion taking its first lead of the game, 32-30, on a Collins three 55 seconds into the half. After Edinboro tied the game at 32, the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 run to take a 38-32 lead.
It was then the Fighting Scots turn to rally tying the game at 41 with just under 15 minutes to go. Clarion, though, responded again getting a three-pointer from Vaughns with 13:23 left to take the lead for good at 44-41. The Golden Eagles went on to win the game and clinch the playoff spot 62-55. Wells led the way for the Golden Eagles with 20 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.
Clarion got a little momentum going with a regular-season ending 52-39 win at Shippensburg behind 10 points each from Wells and Collins and 11 rebounds from Wordlaw.
The Golden Eagles then made a return trip to California for the opening round of the PSAC Playoffs, and a slow start cost Clarion in a 68-58 loss. Cal jumped out to a 26-7 first-half lead and led 28-14 at halftime. The Eagles rallied to within eight midway through the second half only to watch Cal go back up by 19 with 7:39 left to play. However, the never-give-up Eagles rallied one more time getting to within seven, 59-52, with 2:07 to play before running out of time. Vaughns led the way with 14 points, while Wells had nine boards.