Keydren Clark, hand injury and all, stepped to the free-throw line for the first of five free throws.

St. Peter’s trailed by three with 51 seconds left, and the star sophomore stepped to the line, preparing to shoot three free throws for being fouled on his 3-point attempt and two more for the technical foul on Rider, St. Peter’s opponent.

Turned out to be no sweat for Clark.

‘He stepped right to the line and scored all five,’ St. Peter’s coach Bob Leckie said. ‘When it comes to crunch time, he has ice in his veins.’

St. Peter’s went on to win, 72-67. It was the type of consistent play that’s indicative of how good Clark could be, Leckie said.

Clark finished his season Sunday as the nation’s leading scorer in Division I. He broke the St. Peter’s school record for most points in a season with 729, averaging 271 points. Clark held the previous record, too, with 722 points, setting it last year as a freshman.

Though he is often overlooked in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, he has never been overmatched in his college career. At 5 feet 9 inches and only 167 pounds, Clark is proving all the skeptics wrong.

‘Size isn’t a problem for him,’ Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. ‘If you guard him tight, he just steps further back from the 3-point line to shoot. Or he can beat you off the dribble and drive to the hoop.’

Clark played at Rice High School in Harlem in one of the top high school divisions in the country. During his career at Rice, he played the two-guard and was never able to establish himself as a top prospect, playing against bigger competition. During his senior year, he averaged 12 points.

‘It has to do with size,’ Leckie said. ‘At 5-8, the majors won’t look at him at the two-guard. We recruited him as a point and told him the ball would be in his hands for the next four years.’

Leckie was able to get Clark thanks to connections he had with area high school coaches. Before his job at St. Peter’s, Leckie coached at Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn for 20 years.

‘I’d be a damn fool not to tap into my connections in New York City,’ Leckie said. ‘I am certain that he could play on any team in the country.’

Still, Leckie had no idea Clark would be this good. He finished the season leading the team in assists and points. And despite his size, he was third on the team in rebounds.

‘He could play in the Big East,’ Canisius head coach Mike MacDonald said. ‘He’s probably better than Gerry (McNamara). If you combined Gerry McNamara and Billy Edelin and made him smaller, you would have Keydren.’

Though very few players of his stature make it to the NBA, don’t count Clark out. His attitude and work ethic are top-notch.

‘The first time I saw him, I watched him in warm-ups,’ Siena head coach Rob Lanier said. ‘I walked into the gym two hours before our game, and he was in there, sweating his ass off. He’s going to make money playing this game somewhere.’

Clark also attends study hall to improve his 2.97 grade point average. In the off-season, he will focus on getting stronger and learning to become a better team leader.

‘This is just one fine, humble young man,’ Leckie said. ‘His ability to play basketball is only one part of what a great man he is. If either of my sons grows up to be like Keydren, I will be very happy.’

Unbreakable

For the first time since 1991, a team has gone undefeated in the regular season. But that wasn’t enough for Player of the Year candidate Jameer Nelson. As St. Joseph’s officials attempted to raise his number to the rafters following Tuesday game, Nelson spoke up.

You see, Nelson’s work isn’t complete. He asked St. Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli to keep the shirt on his back because he plans on playing nine more games – three in the Atlantic 10 tournament and all six in the NCAA Tournament. The senior point guard wants to win a national championship.

St. Joseph’s trounced St. Bonaventure, 82-50, Tuesday to complete its perfect 27-0 regular-season record. The No. 2 Hawks set a school record for wins, yet remain behind No. 1 Stanford, the only other unbeaten team in college basketball.

Stanford has two games remaining before the Pacific-10 tournament. The Cardinals are at Washington State on Thursday, and they finish their season at Washington on Saturday.

Only once have two unbeaten teams entered the NCAA Tournament in the same year. Rutgers and Indiana did it in 1976. Indiana went on to beat Michigan for the championship, 86-68.

UNLV went 27-0 in the 1991 regular season during head coach Jerry Tarkanian’s last season with the Runnin’ Rebels.

Player of the Week

Missouri, Sr., Rickey Paulding

Missouri had won six games in a row before losing to Texas Tech last night. But the recent hot streak might be a case of too little, too late. Missouri (15-11, 9-6 Big 12) was expected to compete for a Final Four spot this season but after winning its first three games, the Tigers went 6-10. They were No. 5 in the preseason but now must rely on an at-large bid or the Big 12 championship to enter the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Rickey Paulding, a preseason All-American, scored a season-high 31 points and had six rebounds in a double-overtime victory, 93-92, against No. 6 Oklahoma State last Wednesday. Paulding leads his team with 15.9 points per game.

This and that

Air Force, North Carolina, Navy and Michigan State are talking about playing a season-opening basketball doubleheader on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier next season. … A copy of one of former Georgia assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr.’s tests was released Wednesday. Among the questions – ‘How many points are in a 3-pointer?’

Published on March 3, 2004 at 12:00 pm