VIDEO: Sawyer Williams Interview
VIDEO: Charles Clark Interview
Clark earned first team honors from the league last year while Williams was a second team selection.
A first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection, and a first team NABC and second team D2CCA All-Region pick, Clark earned SAC Player of the Week honors twice in his sophomore season.
Clark was second in the league in scoring with 21.6 points per game. He actually led the league in total points scored with 626 and was second in steals with 57. His 626 points are the most any Eagle has scored in a single season since Carson-Newman joined the SAC in hoops in 1989-90 and ranks just outside the top 10 for the league's all-time single season scoring list.
Along the way, Clark dropped 30 on four teams this season, including a career best 39 in the Eagles' 102-88 win at Mars Hill. That day, Clark went 14-of-20 from the field and matched his career high with five steals. Clark has more 30-point games (six) in his first two seasons at Mossy Creek than the program's fourth all-time leading scorer, Ish Sanders, had in his entire career (five).
The sophomore scored in double digits in every game of the season and has been on the plus side of 10 points in 36 consecutive games dating back to his freshman season. The Murfreesboro, Tenn.-native connected on 50.1 percent of his shots and 39.8 percent of his threes. However, where he was most remarkable was the charity stripe. Clark went 180-for-201 from the line to finish the year with an 89.6 percent mark at the free-throw line.
Clark's 180 made freebies are good for sixth all-time on the single season SAC record list, while his 89.6 percentage from the line is 10th all-time in league history and second all-time in school history. Only Ish Sanders (2013-14) was better in the Eagles' annals, connecting on 91.2 percent of his foul shots in his senior year.
Clark represented the only underclassman to make the All-SAC first team last year. He is the only sophomore on either the first or second team D2CCA all-region squad with the same being true for the NABC All-Region team.
Clark topped 20 points on 19 occasions for the Eagles and had his second career double-double when he turned in a 33-point, 11-rebound game against Tusculum.
He handed out at least five assists five times, including a career high of eight against Anderson. He led the Eagles in scoring 18 times, including nine consecutive games at one point. He was the Eagles' leader in steals a team-high 15 times this season, including against Mars Hill when he matched his career high with five.
Williams, who became the 23rd member of the Eagles' 1,000-point club in the SAC quarterfinals against Wingate, will head into his senior season second on the active leaderboard in Division II in career field goal percentage. He will rank sixth among active leaders among players in all divisions.
Williams made 61 percent of his shots in his junior campaign to finish seventh in the league. He has shot 61 percent from the field throughout his career. The Morehead State transfer was second on the team in scoring with 16.7 points per game. He also led the Eagles in rebounding with 7.0 boards per game.
Williams tallied his best game of the season against Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate when he dropped 37 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in defeat. The junior had a pair of double-doubles on the season and had an octet of 20-point efforts. Williams had 20 points and 10 boards against No. 20 Lenoir-Rhyne for his other double-double aside from the LMU game.
He came a rebound away from matching his career high with 13 boards at Anderson. He hit double digits in 23 games and rides a career-long eight-game double-digit scoring streak into this season. He grabbed at least five rebounds in all but five games on the year for the Eagles.
He led C-N in scoring eight times, rebounding on nine occasions, assists on three, steals on four and blocks on eight occasions in his junior campaign. Williams handed out a career high five assists in the Eagles' meeting in Holt Fieldhouse with No. 7 Lincoln Memorial.
Williams and Clark are first on display when C-N takes on Southern Wesleyan at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 11 from Greenwood, S.C. Coverage for the game starts at 8:15 on the Eagle Sports Network with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM) and online at cneagles.com/live.
First Team
Isiah Cureton, Wingate
Sawyer Williams, Carson-Newman
Luquon Choice, Lincoln Memorial
Mike Baez, Wingate
Charles Clark, Carson-Newman
Jameel Taylor, Catawba
Second Team
Randall Shaw, Anderson
KJ Arrington, Catawba
Daniel Camps, Queens
Donte Samuels, Coker
Todd Withers, Queens
Keith Griffin, Wingate
