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Clark Atlanta University Panther
March 27,1992
SPORTS
Missed Free Throws Sink Panthers
PHOTO BY ANTHONY GEORGE IH
All-American candidate Dalton Greene led the Panthers in the SI AC tournament
By Lewis Pryor
Sports Editor
After an opening game upset in
the Southern Intercollegiate Ath
letic Conference (SIAC) tournament
of LeMoyne-Owen College the Clark
Atlanta University Panthers doomed
themselves with poor free throw
shooting down the stretch of their
semifinal matchup with Alabama
A&M.
Clark Atlanta, who finished the
season with a 13-16 mark, had
qualified for the tournament last
season but was not allowed to par
ticipate because they had played
too many games. In the first game
on March 5th, Clark Atlanta de
feated LeMoyne-Owen 1 118-108 be
fore losing to Alabama A&M 97-94
the following day.
The Panthers were eliminated
despite a fine tournament perfor
mance from All-American candi
date Dalton Greene. In the two
games Greene compiled 74 points
while shooting 53 percent from the
floor.
Although Clark Atlanta was elimi
nated in the semifinal match by
Alabama A&M, they were the last
Atlanta University Center team to
exit from the tournament. This was
a result of Morris Brown College
defeating number one seed and two-
time defending tournament cham
pion Morehouse College 86-85 on
March 4th.
MBC, who finished their season
9-19 and lost to eventual tourna
ment champions Albany State Col
lege, shocked the Maroon Tigers
when Sean Byrd of the Wolverines
sank a 12-foot jumper with 1.4
seconds remaining.
In the first game of the tourna
ment versus LeMoyne-Owen (18-
8), Clark Atlanta used a balanced
scoring attack as five players scored
in double figures. Greene led the
way with a 12 of 24 shooting perfor
mance and 34 points. Micheal
Nowell chipped in 25 points, Ed
ward Ward 17, Jimmy Smith 16
and Argent Steele 14.
The balanced scoring attack off
set the Panthers being
outrebounded by a 55-37 margin
and shooting 15 of 32 from the
charity stripe.
In game two, the Panthers raced
to a earlyl9-7 first half advantage
which was sparked by Greene and
Smith. Greene, who scored 41
points, had two three-pointers in
the surge while Smith contributed
four points. The Bulldogs (15-14)
clawed back into the game and took
a 81-80 lead with just under six
minutes remaining. By the 4:50
mark A&M built a lead 88-80 that
they never relinquished.
Although down in the closing
minutes of the game the Panthers
still had a chance to win, their
inability to hit free throws was
seemingly the final straw.
“The difference was that they
made their free throws down the
stretch and we didn’t,” said head
coach Micheal Vickerstaff.
Despite connecting on 20 of 28
attempts from the free throw line,
the Panthers missed five in the final
two minutes of the game coupled
with poor passing.
“If we make our free throws you
probably have a different outcome,”
said Vickerstaff.
The Bulldogs (15-15) emerged as
the tournaments’ Cinderella story
as they first needed to win three of
their last four regular season games
and a loss by conference foe
Tuskegee to get an invitation the
tournament. A&M eventually loss
to Albany State in the champion
ship game on a heartbreaking 50-
footer with no time remaining.
Former Athlete Excels at AJC
By Dwight McGrow
Contributing Writer
Rising from the turmoil, strife and
racial conflict of1950s and 60s Missis
sippi and getting a college education is
in itself a monumental accomplish
ment.
However, when one surpasses
those commendable achievements and
becomes the Jackie Robinson of sports
writing, the story must be heard. That
Jackie Robinson is Earnest Reese of
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Although Reese, now an 18-year
veteran of the AJC, always knew he
wanted to write, he was heavily in
volved in sports as a youth.
“I was all-state infootball and base
ball and I was pretty good in track too,”
Reese recalled. “As a kid, I was always
into sports and wanted to play as long
as I possibly could, but I knew my
chances of going pro after college were
veiy slim because they weren’t really
interested in guys from black colleges
back then” Reese attended Alcorn
State University.
Unlike many young, gifted ath
letes, Reese realized that he probably
wouldn’t go to the pros. So he made
sure that he always studied so he could
be prepared for life after college.
“Alot of guys, who were better than
me, didn’t make it,” he said. “I knew
that if they weren’t making it I wasn’t
going to.”
Reese returned to Jackson, Miss,
after he acquired his English degree
from Alcom State. He spent three
months coaching and teaching at Jim
Hill High School. He then did some
“ghostwriting” for the Denver Blade in
1965 before he moved to Atlanta and
began work on the Atlanta Voice. Yet,
Reese wanted to make a change.
“I came to the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution and applied.” he said.
“The looks on their faces was like, You
want to do what?” he recalled with a
laugh. “Iwasgiventhejob in the spring
of1974 and worked part-time for three
months here. I wrote two columns a
week until the managing editor offered
me a permanent position.”
Reese declined at first. He contin
ued part-time writing and coaching
football and athletic directing at
Stockbridge Junior High School. A
couple of months later, another offer
was made. This time, Reese couldn’t
refuse.
Reese has a natural interest in
writing, so it never gets boring to him.
“Everything doesn’t happen the
same one day after the other,” he said.
"Their are always new stars to cover
and there is no sameness. I like the
variety. No two games are similar. I also
get to cover a lot of different sports like
high school, college and pro basketball
as well asmost of th e Atlanta University
Center sporting events."
Reese enjoys his work, but the
pressure of meeting deadlines
“Many times, ITlbe at a game, and
it won’t get over with until about 9:30,”
he said. “After I get through interview
ing, I might have about twenty-five
minutes to get the story in because
deadline will be at about 10:30.”
He has always been an assertive
person however, that assertiveness
couldn’t help others overcome the fact
that he was black in the beginning.
Reese went on to open the door for
many other blacks that are currently
on the AJC sports staff, like Prentis
Rogers,Terence Moore and Darryl
Maxie.
Lady Panthers
End Season 5-22
By Lewis Pryor
Sports Editor
The Clark Atlanta University
Lady Panthers pulled the curtain
downforl991-92, with a 5-22 mark
to put an end to up and down
dismal season.
The Lady Panthers were led by
senior forward Kellie Wyatt, who
won All-American honors in 1989,
with 18.6 points per gameand shot
41 percent from three-point range.
Wyatt was also the third leading
scorer in the Southern Intercolle
giate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
Besides Wyatt the Panthers also
had other standouts and were
among SIAC leaders. Sharon
Guilford led the conference average
3.2 blocks per game and was fourth
in the SIAC with 9.1 rebounds a
game. Robin Meadows was fourth
among free throw percentage lead
ers at72 percent.
Led by second year head coach
Elmer Mixon Clark Atlanta came off
of a 4-22 record from the 1990-91
season