GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia State shot the lowest round of the tournament and tied its lowest round of the fall to finish tied for fifth at the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate on Sunday. The Panthers 8-under, 280, jumped GSU seven spots in the standings as all four counting scores were under par.
The final round score tied the final round at the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic set a little less than two weeks ago. The round allowed the Panthers to tie No. 31 Purdue at 8-over par in the frost-shortened 36-hole event.
The Panthers were led by a pair of 69s from Davin White and Nathan Mallonee, while Tyler Gruca and Jonathan “J.J.” Grey each shot rounds of 71.
“I am extremely proud of this team right now,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We took a punch to the gut yesterday and all of the good we had done as of late could have just been erased. However, we got up off the mat today and instead of potentially dropping spots in the rankings, we very well might finish the fall in the top-50.
“I was pleased with the way J.J. rebounded. I was encouraged by the play of Nathan and Davin. Tyler made some nice birdies today and Damon gave us a solid performance all weekend. We will now go into the offseason with some momentum heading into February.”
Stephenson finished as the top Panther with a final round 74, finishing 1-over and tied for 16th.
Mallonee, competing in just his third tournament as a Panther, made seven birdies in his final round to tie for 21st. He finished the fall with back-to-back top-25 finishes.
White made five birdies en route to his final round 69, also finishing the tournament at 2-over. White recorded three top-25 finishes in four tournaments this fall.
Gruca made three birdies in the final round to finish at 6-over and tied for 44th.
Grey rebounded after a difficult first round to jump into a tie for 64th at 10-over following a round that included four birdies.
Senior Victor Lavin, competing as an individual, shot a final-round 76 to finish at 7-over and tied for 52nd.
North Carolina earned a six-stroke victory following a final-round 5-under 283. Chattanooga finished second at 1-over, followed by No. 33 Memphis in third at 4-over. No. 10 Virginia Tech finished fourth with Georgia State and Purdue finishing tied for fifth.
The Panthers picked up wins over the likes of No. 30 Iowa State, Washington State, Mississippi State, NC State and VCU.
North Carolina's Henry Do and Memphis' Lars van Meijel, ranked No. 15 by Golfstat, shared low medalist honors at 5-under. Meijel shot 66 on Sunday, making six birdies and no bogeys. VCU's Adam Ball, Virginia Tech's Bryce Chalkey and Chattanooga's Ewan Scott tied for third at 2-under.
The 14-team field included four teams ranked in the top-50 in the latest Golfweek rankings and all-but two of the teams are ranked in the top-100.
Sunday's round will concluded the fall season for the Panthers. Georgia State will return to action at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate hosted by South Alabama, Feb. 17-18.