FORT MEYERS, Fla. (AP) — Zach Johnson scored 19 points, knocking down five 3-pointers, and led four players into double-figure scoring as two-time defending champion Florida Gulf Coast opened Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 90-52 dismantling of Stetson Saturday night.
The 38-point margin of victory is FGCU’s largest — topping both a 33-point win in the 2016 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, and a 32-point difference outside of conference. Brandon Goodwin, the A-Sun’s second-leading scorer, added 18 on 6-for-8 shooting, Dinero Mercurius added 13 and Christian Carlyle 10.
The Eagles (10-8, 1-0) blew open a five-point game with a 19-5 run which ate up seven minutes of the first half and were up 52-23 at the break.
The Eagles made 18 of 26 field goals (69 percent) and were 7 of 12 from distance in the first 20 minutes. Johnson had already scored 16 points with four 3-pointers. FGCU shot 60 percent for the game (30 of 50) and made 12 of 24 3-pointers.
Divine Myles, the conference’s third-leading scorer (both he and Goodwin trail Lipscomb’s Garrison Mathews) finished with 15 points and seven assists for the Hatters (8-9, 0-1).
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