Chattanooga Mocs junior Z. Mason (Nashville, Tenn.) earned Southern Conference Player of the Week honors for his outstanding efforts last weekend. Mason led the Mocs to an improbable comeback win over Appalachian State last Thursday and topped 20 points in both contests.
The junior forward averaged 22 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in two league contests. He shot 53.8 percent (14-26) from the field including 50.0 percent (3-6) from three-point range and hit 81.
3 percent (13-16) from the free throw line.
Mason had a team-best 23 points over the final 11:36 in the overtime win over Appalachian State. With UTC down 19 with 6:36 left, his play helped vault the Mocs into the extra period claiming the win. In that final 11:36, he scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds. He scored five straight points over 42 seconds to set up Dontay Hampton’s (Chattanooga, Tenn.) heroic three-pointer that would send the game into OT.
His 23 points and 11 rebounds in that contest is his second 20/10 game of the season. He followed with 21 points and six boards on Saturday against Western Carolina.
In his last 11 games, Mason has shined. He boasts averages of 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. His shooting percentages over that time-frame are 508 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc and 78.2 percent from the free throw line.
Mason leads his squad in several categories so far in 2012-13. That includes points (14.2 ppg), rebounds (7.2 rpg) and blocks (1.0 bpg). He is tied for 11th in the league in scoring, sixth in rebounding, tied for eighth in blocks, 10th in field goal percentage (73.8) and 13th in free throw percentage (73.8%).
He and his squad are on the road for the next two weekends. The road trip starts Thursday at Elon (7 p.m.) followed by games Sunday at UNCG (2 p.m.) and Georgia Southern the following Saturday (7:30 p.m.). Listen to “Voice of the Mocs” Jim Reynolds on ESPN 105.1 the Zone in Chattanooga or world-wide on GoMocs.com via MocsVision.