DC's Johnson Bags Second HCAC Weekly Honor of the Season

GREENWOOD, Ind. - C.J. Johnson continued his strong play for Defiance College, leading the Jackets to a pair of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victories this past week and has been named as the HCAC Player of the Week. The honor is the second of the season for Johnson and the third of his career.

Johnson made sure that Defiance avoided any setbacks and maintained its clinch on the top spot in the HCAC standings by netting a pair of 20-point outbursts. Johnson averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in a pair of home victories over Manchester and Hanover. The senior guard shot 46.7 percent from the floor and knocked in eight attempts from long distance, while connecting at a 53.3-percent clip.

Johnson started the week by leading all players with 22 points and six boards in DC’s, 68-46, win over Manchester on Wednesday. The Toledo, Ohio, native shot 50 percent from the floor, drained four three-point shots and add two assists and a pair of steals.

Johnson remained hot in Defiance’s, 58-49, win against Hanover on Saturday, pouring in the first eight points of the game for the Yellow Jackets and ending with a game-high 21 points. Johnson chased down six caroms for the second game in a row and also led all players by dishing out four assists and hitting four more attempts from beyond the arc.

Johnson has now led DC in scoring 11 times this season and with 43 points this week has climbed four spots on DC’s all-time scoring list. Johnson now sits in 18th with 1,260 career points.

Johnson currently leads the HCAC with 18.8 points a game and ranks among the top three in steals (2.2 spg), three-point percentage (50.5%), made three-point field goals per game (2.7) and free throw percentage (90.0%).

With the two wins, Defiance improves to 10-0 this season when Johnson hits three or more trifectas and 7-0 when he scores at least 20 points.

The Yellow Jackets (13-5, 8-1) will look to stay hot on Wednesday, when they host Bluffton at 7:30 pm. The game will mark the 180th all-time meeting in the storied rivalry of the two programs.