Duluth, Ga. - Georgia State rebounded with its best round of the fall to move into fifth place after the first day of the inaugural AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic at Berkeley Hills Country Club. The host Panthers shot a second round even par 288, highlighted by rounds of 69 from Grant Cagle and 72's from Tyler Gruca and Davin White.
The University of North Florida leads heading into Tuesday's final round. The Ospreys are 1-under after two rounds to lead Chattanooga by three strokes. Georgia Southern stands in third at 8-over, followed by East Carolina in fourth at 9-over.
Georgia State, which opened the day shooting 301 in the first round, put together its most impressive round in over a year in the afternoon to move into fifth, just 14 strokes off the lead.
"I was extremely pleased with the way we played this afternoon," commented head coach Joe Inman. "I think nerves hurt us the first few holes, but we really rebounded and played strong the final 30 holes. I am looking forward to great things on Tuesday."
East Carolina's Harold Varner fired rounds of 71 and 68 to lead at 5-under and control a one-stroke lead over Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger who stands second at 4-under. North Florida's Kevin Aylwin and Chattanooga's Steven Fox stand tied for third at 2-under par with 18 holes to play.
Gruca is currently in a tie for seventh after back-to-back even par rounds of 72. He will be looking for a career best finish on Tuesday.
Senior Clemens Dvorak shot rounds of 72 and 75 to stands in a tie for 19th, while White is tied for 25th following rounds of 77 and 72.
Following Cagle's career-best round of 69, he moved into a tie for 29th at 6-over par.
"Grant just played great for us in the afternoon," continued Inman. "He really struggled in the morning, but fought back with a beautiful second round to really give the team some momentum."
Redshirt-senior Jared Cagle rounded out the Panthers line-up and stands tied for 71st after rounds of 80 and 82.
Playing as an individual, sophomore Ross Mclister stands tied for 16th following a pair of 73's. Teammate Sam Jandel shot rounds of 77 and 74 and is tied for 39th entering Tuesday's final round.
Sophomore Victor Lavin, also competing as an individual, fired rounds of 80 and 73 to stand tied for 50th, while freshman Damon Stephenson is tied for 67th after rounds of 76 and 84.
Live scoring of Tuesday's final round will be available at Golfstat.com. All three days of the event are open to area golf fans and admission is free.
For more information about the inaugural AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic, visit GeorgiaStateSports.com and click on the tournament logo on the men's golf page.
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