Souchu's 30 Leads Furman Past ASU 91-78

January 19, 2002

SOUCHU'S 30 LEADS FURMAN PAST APPALACHIAN STATE 91-78

GREENVILLE -- Karim Souchu scored a game high 30 points to lead Furman past Appalachian State, 91-78, in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday night at Timmons Arena.

Souchu's performance, which marked the second highest scoring total of his career, helped Furman (9-8, 2-4 SoCon) snap a four-game losing skid and post its highest scoring total against an NCAA Division I opponent since the 1999-00 season.

Appalachian State (5-11, 1-5), which got 12 points from Donald Payne, lost for the sixth time in its last seven games.

"Karim really gave us a lift tonight and hit some big shots in the second half to help us keep our lead," said Furman head coach Larry Davis. "We really needed this win, because we had battled pretty hard and had come up short in our last two games."

Souchu, a junior from Paris, France, scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half and finished the game with an 11-of-18 shooting effort, including 4-of-6 3-pointers. He was followed in the scoring column by Kenny Zeigler, who tallied 17 points and a game high 10 rebounds. Guilherme Da Luz chipped in 16 points and a game high seven assists, and Anthony Thomas added 14 points.

Furman shot 50.0 percent from the field (32x64) and converted a season high 20 free throws on another season high 28 attempts (71.4 percent). The Paladins entered the contest ranked last in the Southern Conference in free throw shooting (57.9 percent).

Appalachian State actually outshot Furman, connecting on 51.8 percent of its field goal attempts, but the Mountaineers committed 20 costly turnovers to the Paladins' nine.

Sporting a 35-33 halftime lead ‹ the Paladins' first halftime advantage in its last 10 games against NCAA Division I opponents ‹ Furman scored the first five points of the second half to stretch its margin to 40-33 following a jump shot by Anthony Thomas at the 18:34 mark.

Appalachian State cut Furman's lead to five points on six occasions the rest of the way, but each time the Paladins kept the Mountaineers out of reach.

After Jonathan Butler canned a jump shot at the 9:56 juncture to make it a 59-53 game, Furman answered with Souchu 3-pointer and free throws by Thomas and Da Luz to complete a 5-0 spurt to give the Paladins a 64-53 advantage with 8:10 to go.

Only twice thereafter did Appalachian State cut Furman's lead under 10 points, and the last time it happened on a layup by Payne to make it 75-66 with 5:09 to go, the Paladins quickly bounced back with a Souchu 3-pointer at the 4:34 mark for a 78-66 advantage.

Furman and Appalachian State return to action on Monday night with the Paladins traveling to Chattanooga for a 7:00 p.m. game and the Mountaineers hosting VMI, also beginning at 7:00 p.m.