Zach Johnson named A-Sun Player of the Week

Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com

LAKE POINT, Ga. – For the first time in his young career, FGCU guard Zach Johnson has been named ASUN Player of the Week after blocking a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds at Kennesaw State last Thursday and taking over offensively at Lipscomb on Saturday, leading the Eagles to a road sweep.

The redshirt sophomore averaged 18.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals over the course of the two games. He posted 14 points on an efficient 6-9 from the floor against the Owls before following it up with a team-best 23 points and career-high nine free throws versus the Bisons.

Johnson made arguably the biggest play of the contest against KSU, rising up at the top of the arc to reject a potential game-tying 3-point shot from the Owls to preserve FGCU’s 78-75 win. It marked the third time in the Miami native’s career already that the 6-2 guard has blocked a potential game-tying shot in the closing seconds, with the other occurrences coming last year versus NJIT and in the ASUN Championship Game opposite Stetson.

Against Lipscomb, Johnson took over in the 2nd half as the dynamic guard tallied 17 points in the final 20 minutes, including an impressive 8-10 performance from the free throw line. He calmly drilled four free throws in the closing minutes to help the Green and Blue stave off a late Lipscomb run for an 84-80 triumph.

The Norland High School product helped extend FGCU’s winning streak to seven in a row as the Eagles (14-5) have opened ASUN play with three-straight road wins and sit alone in first place as the only undefeated team in the league.

Johnson was twice named a Co-Newcomer of the Week last year. He is the second FGCU player to win an ASUN weekly award this season, with the other being Brandon Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS), who has been named a Newcomer of the Week on three different occasions.

Johnson ranks 2nd on FGCU’s extremely deep roster with 12 points per game. His team-leading point total against Lipscomb incredibly represented the sixth different player in the last six games to lead the Eagles in scoring.

After opening an ASUN schedule with three-consecutive road games for just the second time in program history, Johnson and the Eagles will finally commence league action at home on Thursday, Jan. 19, when they welcome USC Upstate to Alico Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Spartans are 12-8 overall and 2-1 in the ASUN after defeating Jacksonville on Saturday.

That will begin a stretch of FGCU having six of its next eight games at home where it has lost just three times to an ASUN team in the regular season the last four years.