VIDEO: Charles Clark Newberry Postgame interview
VIDEO: Shaun Jones Newberry Postgame Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman men's basketball seniors Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Shaun Jones (Lawrenceville, Ga.) have been selected for All-South Atlantic Conference honors, the league office announced Thursday afternoon.
For a third time in his career, Clark received recognition on the first team. Jones meanwhile grabbed second team honors for his first postseason recognition of his career.
Clark was the league's leading scorer for the 2017-18 season with more than 21 points per game, Clark is eyeing a litany of records as he wraps up his career at Mossy Creek.
Clark broke past the 2,300-point threshold in Carson-Newman's SAC quarterfinal win over Newberry with a 29-point effort against the Wolves, the 56th 20-point scoring effort of his career.
He has 2,318 career points and needs six more to catch Sean Barnette of Wingate for the SAC's career scoring record. Seven points would move Clark past Barnette.
With 204 career steals, he is Carson-Newman's all-time leader for the category and sixth all-time in SAC history. He has made the second most field goals in league history at 716.
He already leads the South Atlantic Conference in career free throws made, knocking down 629. Clark has made the fifth most threes in South Atlantic Conference history. He's buried 257 for his career. That figure is second all-time in Carson-Newman history to Ish Sanders' 340.
As a junior, Clark was named an All-American and South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year. He is a member of the top 50 watch list for the Bevo Francis Award for the top small college basketball player in America. Clark has racked up 11 career South Atlantic Conference Player of the week awards in his career, including five in his senior season. Both those totals are league records.
He tallied his fourth career triple-double against Anderson on Jan. 31 with 19 points, 10, rebounds and 10 assists.
Clark has topped 30 points five times in his senior season and 14 times in his career. His best scoring effort this year came against Coker on Dec. 9 in Holt Fieldhouse when he dropped 37 on the Cobras on 12-of-16 shooting, including a 7-of-9 effort from three. He also had a double-double that day against the Cobras.
Clark ranks in the top 15 in the league in every statistical category except for offensive rebounds, assist to turnover ratio and blocks.
Meanwhile, Jones has firmly implanted himself in the Carson-Newman record books as a double-double machine.
Jones has reset both the Carson-Newman single-season and career records for double-doubles. Jones presently has 19 for his career and six as a senior.
The Lawrenceville, Ga.-native transferred in from Valdosta State and has scored more than 1,000 points in his basketball career, including 741 points in the Orange and Blue.
Jones is tied with former Carson-Newman Eagle Ray Rutledge for the fifth highest career rebounding average in South Atlantic Conference history. He has tallied an 8.1 board per game average in his career.
His 18 rebounds against Newberry his junior season are the second most by a Carson-Newman player in the Division II era.
In fact, Jones has three of the five 15+ rebound games put together by Carson-Newman players since the program moved to Division II.
He earned South Atlantic Conference player of the week honors earlier this season after posting back-to-back double-doubles against Tusculum and Wingate. Jones got his week started by resetting his career high for scoring with a 27-point outburst at Tusculum. It was his fifth career 20-point game and the first of his senior season.
The Lawrenceville, Ga.-native went 11-for-16 from the field against the Pioneers while snagging a season-high 13 boards.
Jones then followed that performance up with an 18-point, 11-rebound effort against Wingate.
The senior has particular been a load to deal with since classes resumed in the second semester. Since coming back from the break, Jones has averaged 15.4 points per game, including 20+ point efforts against the aforementioned Pioneers, a career-high 28 at Mars Hill and 21 again against Tusculum in a contest in Holt Fieldhouse.
He has produced five of his six double-doubles this season since returning to the court after Christmas.
Jones and Clark will be in action in the SAC semifinals Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against second-seeded Queens. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
