January 13, 2000
FURMAN THROTTLES UNC GREENSBORO 70-52
GREENVILLE -- Karim Souchu tallied a game high 18 points and headlined a strong three-point shooting effort to lead Furman to a convincing 70-52 win over visiting UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference action Saturday night at Timmons Arena.
Furman (7-6, 2-2 SoCon) converted on 8-of-13 three-point attempts for a season best 61.5 percent and shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field to secure its second straight win over UNC Greensboro (7-7, 2-2), which was led by David Schuck's 16 points and game high 11 rebounds. The Spartans shot only 35.6 percent from the field (21-of-59).
"I thought we came out with a lot of focus, especially at the start of the second half," said Furman head coach Larry Davis, whose squad squandered a 12-point halftime lead in its last game, a 71-66 loss to VMI on Wednesday night. "Our bench played very well. They didn't score a lot of points, but they did some really positive things, which helped sustain our lead and allow our starters to be more effective defensively. Our kids were really embarrassed with the way the VMI game turned out. I knew they would be ready to play tonight. This was a really good win for us because UNCG is a fine basketball team."
"We struggled early, we had a couple of good looks at it and didn't get it in, and then they got away from us a little bit and gained confidence with their offense," said UNC Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffery. "They (Furman) jumped up a shot the ball well. You've got to give them credit. They moved the ball around and got several people involved, and I just didn't think we were real sharp defensively. They tattooed us on the glass and were quicker to loose balls. That's disappointing, but you have to compliment Furman for their effort."
Furman, which led from start to finish, converted 6-of-9 three-pointers in the first half to grab a 37-25 advantage at halftime.
UNC Greensboro cut the Paladin lead to 37-28 on a three-pointer by Nathan Jameson in the first minute of second half, but Furman responded with a Paul Foster three-pointer at the 17:44 mark to make it 40-28.
The Spartans made it 40-31 with a 3-pointer by Jay Joseph at the 17:21 juncture. A few seconds later, however, Furman regained its double digit lead ‹ which it would maintain the rest of the way ‹ with a jump shot by Souchu for a 42-31 advantage.
Fueling Furman's strong second half was solid work in the boards, as the Paladins outrebounded the taller Spartans 22-12 over the final 20 minutes to finish the game with a 41-32 advantage. Marcus Dilligard paced the Paladin rebounding effort with nine caroms, and Kenny Zeigler added seven to go along with 13 points. Guilherme Da Luz also registered seven rebounds, as well as 12 points and seven assists.
Furman returns to action on Monday when it hosts Georgia Southern in a 7:30 p.m. game. UNC Greensboro travels to Lexington, Va., for its next game on Monday night against VMI. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.