February 9, 2002
SOUCHU'S BLOCK HELPS FURMAN HOLD
OFF CHATTANOOGA 68-67;
DA LUZ SETS NEW FURMAN SEASON, CAREER ASSIST STANDARDS
GREENVILLE -- Karim Souchu's block of a Nick Benson layup with three seconds remaining in the game helped Furman hold off Chattanooga 68-67 in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Chattanooga, which battled back from a 68-60 deficit with just under four minutes left, appeared poised to win the game after Neil Ashby stole the ball from Furman's Guilherme Da Luz with eight seconds left and passed ahead to a streaking Benson, but Souchu blocked his game winning layup effort off the backboard and Da Luz recovered the ball as time expired.
"Karim is scorer who game in and game out feels like he has to score a lot of points for us to win, but sometimes when things aren't going well offensively a player has to do other things to help his team win, like playing defense, and today Karim stepped up for us and made a big defensive play," said Furman head coach Larry Davis.
The Paladins' leading scorer this season, Souchu was held to only seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, but his key block enabled Furman (12-11, 5-7 SoCon) to complete its first regular season sweep of Chattanooga (14-11, 7-5 SoCon) since the 1979-80 season. The Mocs, who came into the game in first place in the Southern Conference South Division and on a four-game winning streak, got a game high 19 points from Benson.
Furman was paced by Da Luz's 17 points. The Paladin junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, also contributed eight rebounds and eight assists on the way to setting new school single season and career assist standards. His 162 assists this year surpassed his own personal season record of 159 set two years ago, and his 475 career assists shattered the old standard of 474 held by Hal Henderson (1989-92).
Maleye Ndoye added a career high 14 points and a game high 10 rebounds, and Anthony Thomas chipped in 10 points for the Paladins, who also got a solid game from senior guard Paul Foster, who tallied nine points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
The game was tight from start to finish, with neither team able to forge more than a six-point lead until Furman went up 68-60 following a pair of Nick Sanders free throws with 3:40 left.
From that point, however, Chattanooga clawed back with free throws by Neil Ashby and Bensonto make it 68-62, and later with a 3-pointer from Clyde McCully at the 1:28 juncture to narrow the Furman lead to 68-65.
After Ndoye missed a short jump shot on the Paladins' next possession, the Mocs closed to within one at 68-67 with a jump shot by Tim Parker with 45 seconds remaining.
Furman then turned the ball over on its next possession when Ashby picked up a Da Luz loose ball and passed it ahead to Benson, who had his shot deflected by Souchu after a drive to the basket.
The Paladins shot 43.6 percent from the field (24x55), only slightly better than Chattanooga, which converted 41.9 percent of its field goal attempts (26x62).
Furman returns to action on Monday when it goes for a regular season sweep of The Citadel in Charleston in a 7:15 p.m. game. The Paladins defeated the Bulldogs 83-75 in Greenville on Feb. 11. Chattanooga, meanwhile, returns home to host VMI on Monday beginning at 7:00 p.m.