December 4, 2001
SOUCHU'S 27 PACES FURMAN TO 69-58 WIN OVER UNC ASHEVILLE
GREENVILLE -- Karim Souchu scored 27 points to lead Furman to a 69-58 win over UNC Asheville Tuesday night at Timmons Arena.
The win, Furman's fifth straight after a season opening loss to Georgia, gave the Paladins (5-1) their best start since the 1987-88 season.
UNC Asheville (1-6) was paced by Andre Smith's 22 points.
"It's always good to win; that's what your goal is every time you play, but there were stretches tonigght where we didn't play very well, and I'm sure Eddie feels the same way about his team's performance," said Furman head coach Larry Davis. "We were pretty sloppy in the first half and did enough in the second half to win, but there is a lot of room for improvement."
Souchu,
a 6-foot-7 junior All-Southern Conference forward, continued to deliver strong
play in his new role as Furman's sixth man by coming off the bench to lead the
Paladins in scoring for the third consecutive game. The native of Paris, France,
converted 11-of-18 points, including 5-of-8 3-pointers, and claimed seven rebounds
in 33 minutes of action.
No other Paladin reached double figures, but freshman forward Nick Sanders grabbed a game high nine rebounds to go along with six points. Guilhereme Da Luz and Maleye Ndoye chipped in nine points apiece.
Trailing 28-27 at intermission, Furman wasted little time seizing command in the second half, reeling off a 9-0 run over the first four minutes to take a 36-28 lead following a layup by DaLuz at the 16:57 mark.
After UNC Asheville cut the Paladin lead to five points at 38-33 on a three-point play by Ronny Joyner at the 16:17 juncture, Souchu accounted for nine points in a 17-4 Furman run that stretched the Paladins' advantage to 55-37 following a jump shot by Anthony Thomas with 8:47 remaining.
UNC Asheville then clawed away at Furman's lead, outscoring the Paladins 21-9 over the next seven minutes to get to within six points at 64-58 following a driving layup by Andre Smith with 1:23 remaining. But Furman responded with two free throws from Maleye Ndoye at the 1:19 mark, and later got a Souchu 3-pointer with only 12 seconds left to seal the win.
Furman shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from 3-point range. UNC Asheville, meanwhile, converted 21-of-48 field goal attempts (43.8 percent) and 5-of-17 3-point tries (29.4 percent). The Paladins outrebounded the Bulldogs 36-27.
Furman and UNC Asheville return to action on Saturday when the Paladins host Emory at 7:00 p.m. and the Bulldogs entertain Montreat, also at 7:00 p.m.
Picture: Furman's Guilherme Da Luz drives around UNC Asheville's Andre Smith in the Paladins' 69-58 win over the Bulldogs Tuesday night at Timmons Arena.