Panthers Finish Ninth in Strong Field at Brickyard

Men's Golf Mike Holmes/Sports Communications

Stephenson, White Among Top 25 at Rees Jones Invitational

DAUFUSKIE ISLAND, S.C. – With three golfers in the top-30, Georgia State stands 10th after two rounds of the Rees Jones Invitational. The Panthers shot a second-round 11-over 299 and are within striking distance of a top-five finish entering Tuesday's final round at Haig Point Golf Club.

Davin White shot a 1-under 71 and Damon Stephenson shot an even-par 72 to lead the Panthers on Monday.

“I was disappointed that we came out pressing again today, but pleased with the way we rebounded,” head coach Joe Inman said. “Damon and Davin put together solid rounds and kept us in the tournament. If we can start tomorrow how we finished today, I would think that we should be able to move up several spots on the leaderboard.”

Georgia State played the front-nine 12-over par, but played the back-nine 1-under, making 10 birdies coming home. The Panthers are 27-over thru 36 holes, yet only 13-strokes outside of the top-five.

Included in the impressive back-nine performance was Damon Stephenson's 4-under 32. After shooting 40 on the front nine, the junior rebounded and now stands tied for 20th at 4-over par following an opening round 76.

White got off to a hot-start, shooting 34 on the front with three birdies, but a double bogey at the 17th derailed a round in the 60s. The junior is tied for 26th at 5-over following a first-round 78.

Senior Tyler Gruca is tied for 29th at 6-over following a second round 78. After a tough start that saw him shoot 42 on the front-nine, he got back to his form from Sunday and shot even par on the back-nine.

Sophomore Jonathan “J.J.” Grey shot a second-round 78 and is now tied for 58th at 13-over par entering Tuesday's final round. Grey birdied two of his three final holes.

Senior Kevin Lee shot a second-round 80 and is tied for 63rd at 14-over par.

Senior Victor Lavin, competing as an individual, shot a second-straight 78 to stand tied for 52nd at 12-over thru 36 holes.

South Florida continues to hold the lead after a second-round 9-over 297 that left the Bulls at 7-over par. Kennesaw State is second at 11-over, followed by host South Carolina in third at 12-over. Former conference-foe UNCW is fourth entering Tuesday's final round at 13-over, followed by East Carolina in fifth at 14-over.

South Florida's Chase Koepka built his lead to three strokes at 6-under par, followed by UNCW's Payne McLeod in second at 3-under. Kennesaw State's Jimmy Beck is the only other golfer under-par and stands in third at 1-under. UNCW's Stefan Brewer, East Carolina's Al Dickens and South Carolina's Matthew NeSmith are tied for fourth at even par.

Georgia State finished second at the Rees Jones in 2008 and has followed with sixth and seventh place performances in 2009 and 2011 respectively.

Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. again on Tuesday. The Panthers will be off the tenth tee at 9:40 a.m. with Winthrop and Charleston Southern. Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com.

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