GOLDEN EAGLES OVERCOME ADVERSITY TO QUALIFY FOR PSAC PLAYOFFS FOR THE 10^TH TIME IN 11 YEARS

The story of the 2007 Clarion University men’s basketball team was one of overcoming adversity against the odds to qualify for the PSAC Playoffs for the 10^th time in 11 years.

In mid-January, the Golden Eagles looked like a long shot to make the PSAC Playoffs after starting the PSAC-West slate 0-4 while losing 10 straight overall. Add that to the fact that Clarion lost arguably its best player – forward Ricky Henderson, a pre-season All-PSAC-West selection – to a season-ending injury and that one of Henderson’s replacements, Chris Buchanan, ended up missing 11 games down the stretch and the picture looked bleak.

But the Golden Eagles rebounded in a big way winning nine of its final 12 games including six of its final eight conference tilts to finish 13-15 overall and 6-6 in the PSAC-West, good for the fourth and final playoff spot.

“I was proud of the way our players responded to some adversity,” Clarion’s 19^th year head coach Ron Righter said. “They showed a lot of character and heart this season.”

It was a banner year for Righter as well, as the long-time Golden Eagle mentor, the winningest coach in school history, won his 300^th career game at Clarion in the season-opener, a 78-47 win at Briarcliffe behind 15 points from Leon Kennedy. Righter finished the season with a mark of 312-200 at Clarion and an overall record of 336-224 in 21 seasons as a head coach.

“Winning 300 games at Clarion is special,” Righter said. “A lot of the credit goes to the players and assistant coaches I have had during my time here. This is really a program achievement.”

Righter probably turned in one of his better coaching jobs in 2007 finding the right buttons to push after the slow start.

Clarion’s turnaround started ironically enough in a game it was losing by 31 points in the second half. The Golden Eagles trailed Lock Haven 64-33 with just over 10 minutes left Jan. 24 before ending the game on a 43-23 run losing by just 11. That run, even in a loss, seemed to spark something in Clarion which responded by rolling off wins in seven of its next eight games.

“What I saw in the second half of the Lock Haven team was the potential our team had,” Righter said. “They played as hard as they had all year in the second half. That along with some small personnel changes we made helped turn things around.”

The streak started with an impressive 75-67 win over two-time defending PSAC Champion Edinboro, which entered the game 3-1 in the PSAC-West, behind 16 points from Josh Yanke.  

Clarion followed that with a 70-57 win at Slippery Rock, and then after a loss at California rolled off five straight wins, including a thrilling 64-63 overtime win over defending PSAC-West champion Shippensburg Feb. 10. Kennedy scored 25 points in that victory, as the Golden Eagles rallied from a 9-point second-half deficit to get the win.

The Golden Eagles then secured the PSAC Playoff berth with a regular-season ending 76-59 win at home over Slippery Rock with Yanke leading the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  

In the PSAC Playoffs, Clarion battled PSAC-West champion California down to the wire on the road before falling 67-62 despite a career-high tying 27 points from Kennedy.  

The end of the season saw the end of Clarion careers for six Golden Eagles including Kennedy, a two-year starter, who was rewarded for his team-leading 14.9 ppg by being chosen first-team PSAC-West in a vote by league coaches. Leon ranked 10^th in the PSAC in scoring and second in steals (2.43 spg) while adding 4.8 rpg and 30 assists. He shot 48.4 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from 3-point range and 70.5 percent from the line while twice scoring the career-high 27 points. He finished the season with seven 20-point games, and scored 827 points in a two-year Clarion career. His selection to the all-conference team marked the 19^th straight year Clarion has had an All-PSAC-West performer and the 17^th time in the past 18 years that Clarion has had a first-team selection.

“Leon had a very solid season and is deserving of the recognition,” Righter said. “He’s been a key part of our team the last two seasons and was one of the reasons we made it to the PSAC Playoffs this season.”

Clarion had four players conclude four-year careers including point guard Bobby Franklin, Buchanan and shooting guards Justin Collins and Frank Torbert, while forward Brent Nelson also saw his playing career come to and end.

Franklin became just the 10^th player in school history with 300 assists and finished eighth in school history with 343 helpers while also scoring 762 points and coming away with 148 steals. He ranked fourth in the PSAC and second in the West in assists per game (4.29) in 2007 while averaging 7.3 ppg and 2.4 rpg.  

Buchanan, who missed 11 of Clarion’s final 12 games this season with an injury, averaged 7.6 ppg and 5.8 rpg and would have ranked in the Top 20 in the PSAC in rebounding if he had appeared in enough contests. In his career, he scored 461 points and hauled down 306 rebounds.

Collins, who sat out the 2005 season with an injury, finished with 697 points while hitting 142 career 3-pointers. His 8-for-8 performance from behind the arc in 2004 vs. IUP tied a school-record for 3-pointer field-goal percentage in a game and came up one triple shy of the school record in a game. This season he hit 35 3-pointers and averaged 7.6 ppg, while his 42.7 percent shooting average from behind the arc ranked fourth in the PSAC and second in the West.

Torbert, who missed the 2006 season with an injury, concluded his career with 321 points while hitting 62 triples. This season he averaged 5.2 ppg while hitting 28 3-pointers.

Nelson, who played just this season with Clarion after missing last year with an injury, started 11 games while averaging 3.8 ppg and 4.4 rpg. He led the team with 14 blocked shots.

While the Golden Eagles were heavily senior oriented in 2007, Clarion also got key contributions from underclassmen including sophomore Josh Yanke and juniors Demetrius Graham, Lamar Richburg and Lonnell Jones, who were all in their first seasons at Clarion.

Yanke, who entered the starting lineup in late January, finished second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.7 ppg), and he was the Golden Eagles second-leading scorer in conference play at 11.7 ppg. He scored a career-high 24 points vs. Columbia Union while reaching double figures in six of his final eight contests.

Graham served as the back-up point guard while also starting nine games. He scored 4.1 ppg while dishing out 3 apg. He had a season-high five assists twice and 12 points vs. West Chester.

Richburg started five games and averaged 6 ppg and 3.8 rpg, while Jones started six games and averaged 5.3 ppg and 2.6 rpg. Richburg scored 17 points vs. Columbia Union, while Jones had 23 at Lock Haven.

CLARION NOTES – The Golden Eagles have won three PSAC-West titles (1997, 2000, 2005) and one PSAC Title (2001) under Righter while qualifying for the NCAA D-II To. in 2001.