SOUCHU'S 21 LEADS FURMAN PAST WOFFORD 70-62
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Karim Souchu scored a game-high 21 points and Kenny Zeigler added 15 points and a season high 12 rebounds to lead Furman to a 70-62 Southern Conference victory over Wofford in front of 3,431 fans at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
In snapping Wofford's 11-game home winning streak, Furman held the Terriers' Ian Chadwick, the Southern Conference's leading scorer, to a season low 7 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Chadwick scored a career high 40 points in his last game and came into Saturday's contest against Furman averaging 21.7 ppg.
With the win Furman improves to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Terriers fall to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in conference.
"Anytime you can get a road win in the league, it's good," Furman head coach Larry Davis said. "Wofford is very tough at home. "They are a veteran team. When they got the steal and dunk late (to cut it to six points), we answered. That was big. We did a super job on the perimeter, executed down the stretch, and made our free-throws."
"I've been saying for quite some time, and nobody wanted to listen to me, that Furman is one of the best teams in the Southern Conference," Wofford head coach Richard Johnson said. "They really got after it tonight. They played with a lot more energy and enthusiasm than us. For whatever reason, we seemed flat. We didn't have our usual spark. Furman is also very athletic and they cause a lot of matchup problems."
Guilherme Da Luz added 15 points and Anthony Thomas 12 for Furman. Colon Largent was the only Wofford player in double figures with 11 points.
With the game tied 26-26 at intermission, Furman used a 7-2 spurt over the first two-plus minutes of the second half to grab a 33-28 advantage following a layup by Marcus Dilligard with 17:48 left.
Wofford battled back and and took a 41-40 lead following a jumper by Chadwick at the 11:40 mark, but Furman went ahead for good at 45-44 on a layup by Mari Souchu at the 9:03 juncture, starting another 7-2 run that saw the Paladin advantage grow to 50-44 following a 3-pointer by Paul Foster with 8:05 left.
Wofford used a 3-pointer by Lee Nixon to slice the lead to 50-47, but Furman answered back when Da Luz drained a 3-pointer at the 7:28 mark to stretch the Paladin advantage to six points at 53-47.
The Terriers never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
Furman shot 41.4 percent from the field (24-of-58) and a solid 70.8 percent from the free throw line (17-of-24), including 14-of-19 in the second half. Wofford, meanwhile, connected on 42.9 percent from the field (24-of-56), but the Terriers were only 4-of-19 from 3-point range (21.1 percent) against the Paladins, who lead the Southern Conference in 3-point percentage defense. A tough Furman defense also forced Wofford into 17 turnovers.
Furman returns to action next Wednesday when it hosts VMI at Timmons Arena in a 7:00 p.m. game.