January 27, 2003
APPALACHIAN STATE TOPS FURMAN 83-67
BOONE, N.C. -- Shawn Hall scored 21 points, including 14 in the first half, to lead Appalachian State to an 83-67 victory over Furman Monday night in front of 3,233 fans at Holmes Convocation Center.
Appalachian (13-4, 6-1 SoCon) used nine three-point baskets in the first 20 minutes, including four by Hall, en route to the win. Furman (8-14, 2-6 SoCon) was paced by Karim Souchu’s 18 points.
Leading 16-12 with 13:24 left in the opening period, Appalachian drained three three-pointers to key on a 16-4 run and extend its advantage to 32-16 at the 8:30 mark of the first half.
A Souchu three-pointer cut the lead to 48-34 with 11 seconds left before the intermission, but Hall converted a pull-up triple with four seconds remaining to make it a 51-34 game at halftime.
The No. 3 scoring team in the nation coming into the game, Appalachian placed four players behind Hall in double figures. Josh Shehan tallied 14 points and added nine rebounds. Nate Carson contributed 11 points and nine caroms, and Graham Bunn finished with 10 points and five assists.
Souchu’s 18 points came on a 7-of-17 shooting performance. The Paladin senior forward moved from seventh to fifth place on Furman career scoring chart, surpassing former standouts Bruce Evans (1,773 points, 1989-92) and Dick Wright (1,778 points, 1956-59). Souchu now has 1,790 points.
Guilherme Da Luz netted 15 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while Ryan Chancler added 11 points. Kenny Zeigler notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Appalachian took its largest lead of the night at 26 on a Matt Jones fast break lay-in that made it 65-39, with 12:33 to play. Furman cut the deficit to 13 at 75-62 with 2:43 to go on a Da Luz lay-in, but could get no closer.
Appalachian State shot 49.2 percent from the field (31x63), including 10-of-20 from three-point range, while Furman struggled by connecting on only 25-of-70 field goal attempts (35.7 percent).
Furman returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 1 when it hosts VMI at Timmons Arena in a 2:00 p.m. game. Appalachian wraps up its non-league slate on Tuesday, when it travels to Gardner-Webb for a 7:30 p.m. contest.