November 8, 2000
GREENVILLE -- Karim Souchu scored a game high 25 points to lead Furman to a 74-57 win over Neptunas of Lithuania in exhibition basketball action Wednesday night at Timmons Arena.
Souchu, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward from Paris, France, and Basketball News Southern Conference Preseason Player-of-the-Year, converted 11-of-15 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, and collected seven rebounds to pace the Paladins. Anthony Thomas added 17 points and Guilherme Da Luz tallied 11 points, five assists, and three steals to the Furman attack.
Neptunas got 20 points and a game high 13 rebounds from Rolandas Urkis. "I thought we played well in spurts and shot the ball pretty well, especially from the perimeter," said head coach Larry Davis, whose squad made 7-of-15 3-pointers in the contest while shooting 48.1 percent from the field. Led by Kenny Zeigler's nine rebounds, the Paladins outboarded Neptunas 31-28.
Souchu scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half to help the Paladins build a 44-37 halftime lead. Neptunas cut Furman's margin to four points at 46-42 with a free throw by Urkis with 18:20 left, but that was as close as the Lithuanians would get as the Paladins answered with a layup by Da Luz and a Souchu jumper to stretch the lead to 50-42 with just over 15 minutes left.
Furman opens its 2000-01 season on Nov. 18 when it hosts Atlanta Christian. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.