Macon, Ga. - Led by freshman Jonathan Grey's second round 5-under 67, Georgia State shot a 1-over, 289 on Saturday at the Brickyard Collegiate to move into a tie for 11th place with 18 holes to play. Grey, ranked fourth by GolfStat and No. 11 by Golfweek, won his debut last month and stands tied for second at the Brickyard at Riverside Golf Club.
Grey made five birdies, including four on his second nine, to move to 5-under for the tournament after an opening round 72. The freshman shot his second 67 of the year and is averaging 69.0 strokes through five rounds this year.
"Jonathan is playing great golf right now and leading our team," commented head coach Joe Inman. "I have seen some impressive performances in the past, but what he is doing right now is quite remarkable. I look forward to watching him again on Sunday.
"After a slow start to the round today, I was impressed with how hard our guys fought to finish strong. We have put ourselves in a good position to move up the leaderboard on Sunday."
Grey will be looking to become the first Panther since Joel Sjoholm in 2008 to win multiple events in a season. Sjoholm went on to become Georgia State's first-ever First Team All-American that season.
Georgia State's 1-over par round was the fourth best score of the day. Despite sitting in 11th place, the Panthers are just five strokes behind sixth place Oklahoma.
Sophomore Davin White shot a second round 72 to move into a tie for 37th at 4-over. White eagled the par 5, 556-yard sixth hole and finished with a birdie to overcome three bogeys.
Junior Kevin Lee shot a 75 to move up into a tie for 48th at 7-over. Lee also finished strong making birdies on two of his final three holes.
Junior Tyler Gruca also shot 75 and stands at 8-over par with 18 holes to play. Gruca made a pair of birdies over the final four holes to shot 36 on his second nine.
Junior Grant Cagle rounded out the Panthers line-up with a second round 76 and stands at 11-over, tied for 72nd.
Playing as an individual, sophomore Damon Stephenson, who was fighting illness on Friday, withdrew from the tournament on Saturday.
No. 4 Georgia shot a second round even par, 288, to build its lead to nine strokes over No. 35 Virginia Tech entering Sunday. The Bulldogs stand at 8-under while the Hokies are 1-over following a second round 286. No. 15 Georgia Tech stands in third at 3-over, followed by No. 42 North Florida in fourth at 5-over. Princeton rounds out the top five in fifth at 7-over.
Princeton's Quinlan Prchal holds a one-stroke lead over Grey and Georgia's T.J. Mitchell, ranked 21st by GolfStat. Prchal stands at 6-under following his second straight 69. Georgia's Nicholas Reach stands alone in fourth at 4-under, followed by Virginia Tech's Trevor Cone in fifth at 3-under.
Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Georgia State will begin at 8:40 a.m. off the 10th tee with Augusta State and Chattanooga. Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com.
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