February 16, 2002
DA LUZ'S 19 POINTS POWERS FURMAN
TO THIRD
STRAIGHT WIN WITH 55-48 TRIUMPH OVER WOFFORD
GREENVILLE -- Guilherme Da Luz scored a game high 19 points to lead Furman to a 55-48 Southern Conference win over Wofford in front of 3,052 fans Saturday night at Timmons Arena.
Da Luz, a junior point guard from Sao Paulo, Brazil, converted 5-of-13 field goal attempts and 8-of-9 free throws to pace Furman (14-11, 7-7 SoCon) to its third straight win, thereby guaranteeing the Paladins their first winning regular season since the 1991-92 campaign. Da Luz also claimed six rebounds, four assists, and two steals despite playing with a sore back, which he aggravated earlier in the day at the team's shootaround practice.
"I
thought we gutted it out pretty good and got a very important win," said Furman
head coach Larrry Davis. "Wofford is a good basketball team, and every time
we play them it's a close game, and tonight was no exception. We just battled
and battled and Guilherme just refused to let his team down. I'm very proud
of his effort and that of our team."
Wofford (11-15, 5-9 SoCon), which fell for the ninth time in its last 11 games, was led by freshman Justin Stephens' 12 points.
Malaye Ndoye added 12 points and a team high eight rebounds for Furman, which also got 10 points and six rebounds from Karim Souchu.
Both teams struggled to score for much of the game, with Furman shooting only 38.0 percent from the field (19x50) while Wofford connected on just 31.1 percent of its field goal attemtps (19x61).
Leading 22-16 at halftime, Furman saw its edge evaporate over the first five and half minutes of the second half as Wofford put together a 14-4 run to grab a 32-26 advantage after Justin Stephens stole the ball and fed a streaking Mike Lenzly for a layup with 14:29 left.
Furman answered with a 9-2 spurt to regain the lead at 35-34 following a pair of free throws by Da Luz at the 9:08 mark. An Anthony Thomas 3-pointer at the 7:03 juncture gave the Paladins a 40-36 advantage, and a little more than a minute later Furman made it 42-36 when Da Luz fed Maleye Ndoye for a layup to make it 42-36.
The Terriers hung tough and narrowed Furman's advantage to 44-41 with a Lenzly 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining, but the Paladins then seized control of the game with excellent defense, shutting out the Terriers for almost four minutes while scoring eight points for a 52-41 lead following a Karim Souchu free throw with only 33 seconds left in the contest.
Wofford's 48 points represented the Terriers' lowest offensive output against Furman since the 1946-47 season.
Furman returns to action on Monday when it hosts East Tennessee State in the home season finale beginning at 7:30 p.m. Wofford, meanwhile, hosts Western Carolina on Monday night, also at 7:00 p.m.