ATLANTA -Georgia State shot a season-best 4-under 284 to propel them into third place at the 43rd annual Furman Intercollegiate on Saturday afternoon. Two Panthers shot career-lows, while a third tied a career-best as the Panthers shot their best team score since 2009.
Freshmen Davin White and Damon Stephenson each shot career low rounds to move into the top 15. White's second round 69 propelled him into a tie for 10th, while Stephenson's 70 moved him into a tie for 13th.
Georgia State stands just 10 shots behind Clemson and four behind Virginia Tech entering Sunday's final round. The 4-under round was the Panthers lowest since shooting a 6-under 282 at the Turtle Bay Resort Invitational in the fall of 2009.
"I am so proud of this team," commented head coach Joe Inman. "They have worked extremely hard to improve themselves and today it really came to fruition. The team stayed focused and was able to finish strong.
"We are a young team and keep improving. I look forward to challenging for a title on Sunday as we continue to work toward our end of the season goals."
White's round, which included four birdies and an eagle for the second day in a row, moved him to 2-under for the tournament.
Stephenson, who played one of the most balanced rounds yesterday, did the same on Saturday, making three birdies and just one bogey to stand at 1-under thru 36 holes.
Senior Clemens Dvorak tied a GSU-best with a second round 71 to move back to even par for the tournament and stand tied for 21st.
Sophomore Tyler Gruca struggled early in his second round with a pair of double bogeys, but rebounded strong, making four birdies on his second nine to shot 32 coming in, finishing with a 2-over 74 to stand 3-over and in a tie for 50th.
Sophomore Grant Cagle rounded out the Panthers starting line-up shooting a second round 5-over 77. He dropped into a tie for 80th.
The 21-team field includes 126 golfers playing 54-holes over three days in a similar format to the NCAA Regionals.
Playing as one of three Panther individuals, redshirt-senior Jared Cagle shot a second round 75 and stands in a tie for 66th with 18 holes to play. Sophomore Ross Mclister showed the greatest improvement of any GSU player to shot a second round 73 to move up to a tie for 80th at 8-over. Sophomore Victor Lavin rounded out the squad, shooting a second round 78 to stand at 12-over and in a tie for 110th.
Clemson shot a tournament-low 12-under 276 to jump from fifth to first at 10-under par and holds a six stroke lead over Virginia Tech, which jumped from tenth to second. Following the Panthers at even par, Coastal Carolina stands in fourth at 1-over, followed by Wofford in fifth at 2-over. Georgia stands just one back in sixth at 3-over.
Michigan's Matt Thompson shot a second round 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Coastal Carolina's Sebastian Soderburg. Thompson stands at 9-under par enter Sunday's final round. Clemson's Thomas Bradshaw and Crawford Reeves are currently tied for third, along with Gardner-Webb's Daniel Kim and Virginia Tech's Blake Redmond at 4-under.
Since the late 1970s, the course has been the site of two outstanding college tournaments, the Furman Intercollegiate and the Lady Paladin Invitational. In addition, the course hosts a number of local and state tournaments.
Round three of the 54-hole tournament tees off on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. The Panthers will tee off starting at 1 p.m. in the final wave with Clemson and Virginia Tech.
Fans can log on to Golfstat.com to follow live scoring during all three rounds.
Following this weekend the Panthers will return to the course at the Insperity/Augusta State Invitational, March 31-April 1.
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