UMBC

Cambridge, Mass.--UMBC senior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Acad./James Madison) was named America East Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week in games played through Nov. 18, 2007.

Johnson’s selection gives UMBC back-to-back honorees for the first time in five years of America East Conference play. Senior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./William Allen/James Madison) earned the award last week.

In UMBC’s 70-68 win over Richmond, Johnson hit the game-tying baseline jumper with 29 seconds left, then converted Jay Greene’s steal into a dunk with 3.2 seconds left to give UMBC the road victory. He scored a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds in the contest. Earlier in the week, Johnson scored 15 of his 17 points and garnered all nine of his rebounds in the second half as UMBC rallied from 32-28 halftime deficit to defeat La Salle 76-69 in Philadelphia. 

Through three games, Johnson is averaging 15.3 points (seventh in America East) and 9.3 rebounds per game, which is tied for the league lead.

The Retrievers are off to their first 3-0 start since the 2001-02 season. UMBC plays at Lafayette (1-2) on Tuesday evening before returning home to entertain George Washington on Saturday (2:00 p.m.) at the RAC Arena.