Andre Clark won't let his Philander Smith teammates forget losing in the first round of last year's NAIA National Tournament.
Coach Sam Weaver said the senior from North Little Rock hasn't let teammates forget how the Panthers blew a 15-point lead to Montana Western in a 99-94 overtime loss.
"He's provided good leadership and great insight," Weaver said. "He's been most vocal about wanting to get back."
Clark and the Panthers (20-11) got their wish last week when they received at an-large berth into the 32-team tournament that begins today at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Panthers and third-ranked William Carey (Miss.) have the day's late game, which is scheduled to tip off at 10:30 p.m. Central.
Philander Smith, the third-highest scoring team in the NAIA with an average of 91.6 points per game, almost didn't get into the tournament despite opening the season 16-5. The Panthers limped into the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament in New Orleans having only won two of their last seven regular-season games but won two games there, including a 106-102 double-overtime thriller against host Xavier before losing in overtime to league champion Talladega 104-95.
"We made some adjustments personnel-wise to do something to shake them up," Weaver said of the postseason re-emergence. "We took 10 guys to the conference tournament and needed to win the Xavier game, which we did. Then we got Talladega into overtime, but they hit a big three-pointer that hurt us.
"Overall, I was pleased with our performance down there."
The Panthers have six players averaging 10 or more points a game, led by 6-10 senior Juvon Demerson (14.0 ppg). Senior D'Alvin Brown averages 13.8 points a game and is fourth in the nation with 105 three-point field goals and sixth in three-point percentage (46.9).
Daron Bell (17.9 ppg) leads five William Carey (27-2) players averaging 10 or more points a game. The 6-3 senior forward does it defensively as well, averaging 2.3 steals a game.
"William Carey is a real steady basketball team and really doesn't jump out at you on paper," Weaver said. "They always seem to get great players, aren't too fancy but they know how to win."
Sports on 03/19/2014