November 7, 2002
FURMAN BLOWS PAST SOUTHEAST ATLANTA
ALL STARS
97-59 IN EXHIBITION HOOPS ACTION
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Guilherme Da Luz paced five double figure scorers with 22 points to lead the Furman Paladins to a 97-59 win over the Southeast Atlanta All Stars in exhibition basketball action Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
Da Luz, a senior All-Southern Conference performer, narrowly missed recording a triple double as he collected nine assists and nine rebounds to go along with his game high points total as Furman cruised in its only preseason exhibition contest.
Joining Da Luz in double figures was Paco Gonzalez with 21 points and Maleye Ndoye, Karim Souchu, and Jason Patterson with 11 points each. Wallace Prather led the All Stars with 13 points. Furman shot 52.2 percent from the field and dominated the boards with a 55-38 advantage.
The All Stars connected on only 26.4 percent from the floor and were only 4-of-29 from 3-point range.
The Paladins raced to a 56-33 lead at the half and were never threatened in the contest.
Furman opens the 2002-03 regular on Sunday, Nov. 17 against Alabama State in the Guardians Classic in Omaha, Neb. The Paladins will play either Creighton or Texas-Arlington the tournament's second round on Nov. 19.
The Paladins posted their first winning season since 1993 a year ago, going 17-14 and finishing as Southern Conference Tournament runnerup under Larry Davis, who is beginning his sixth year at Furman.