Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
LAKEPOINT, Ga. – For the first time in his career, FGCU forward Demetris Morant has been named ASUN Player of the Week, and for the fourth time this year guard Brandon Goodwin has been tabbed as the ASUN Newcomer of the Week, league officials announced Monday.
Morant averaged 18.5 points and 12 rebounds over the course of two FGCU wins last week, including a career-high 25 points and career-high-tying 17 rebounds versus Jacksonville on Saturday. Goodwin, meanwhile, hit the game-winning shot at North Florida on Wednesday and posted a pair of 16-point contests opposite the Ospreys and Dolphins, passing out game-high assist totals in both games.
The 6-9 Morant shot an uber-efficient 11-14 from the floor, including eight dunks, against JU on his way to a game-high point total. The Miami native matched his own single-game program record (regulation 40 minutes) with the 17 rebounds – including a career-best seven on the offensive end as part of FGCU’s 78-56 win.
Against UNF, Morant finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, shooting 6-7 from the floor. Over the two games, the redshirt senior shot 17-21 (80.9 percent) from the floor, secured 11 of his 24 rebounds on the offensive side of the ball and blocked two shots while playing just 51 minutes. He shares the ASUN Player of the Week honor with Stetson’s Derick Newton, who averaged 28.5 points and 6 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week for the Hatters.
A transfer from UCF, Goodwin – who has already been named ASUN Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 21, Dec. 12 and Jan. 9 – added another honor after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 34 seconds left at UNF. It was the Norcross, Ga., product’s third game-winner of the year, and he followed it up by grabbing a steal and converting a layup a few seconds later to seal the 86-82 victory for the Eagles in a 1st-place showdown. The redshirt junior dished out a game-best four assists, and followed it up with a game-high seven helpers on Saturday.
With his fourth ASUN Newcomer of the Week recognition, Goodwin is tied with four other players for the most awards since the league starting issuing the honor in the 2010-11 season.
Goodwin is leading the Eagles with 16.4 points per game to rank 7th in the conference, and is passing out a team-best 4.1 assists per contest to rank 4th in the league. The 6-2 guard is also shooting an impressive 53.6 percent from the floor, the 7th-best total in the ASUN, and is 8th in free throw percentage at 79.3.
A former UNLV transfer, Morant is now averaging 10.7 points and a team-best 8 rebounds per game. His gaudy 74.5-percent shooting from the floor easily leads the ASUN, and if it weren’t for being just below the NCAA threshold (averaging 4.7 made field goals per game; needs 5 per game to qualify) he would be leading the entire nation in that category. The ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Morant is averaging a league-best 1.7 blocks per contest.
Morant, Goodwin and the rest of the Eagles have won 10 of their last 11 games and sit at 17-6 overall and alone in 1st place at 6-1 in the ASUN entering a home matchup with North Florida on Monday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. It is a battle of the league’s top-2 teams in the preseason poll, and dating back to 2012-13, FGCU or UNF has won (or shared) either the regular-season title or tournament crown every single season.
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