SAUCIER, Miss. – Georgia State shot its second straight round of even par and will enter the final round of the Sun Belt Men's Golf Championship with a two stroke lead. Three Panthers are among the top ten, led by J.J. Grey who is tied for third.
Grey's 2-under 70 led the Panthers who are the only team in the 10-team field at Grand Bear Golf Course that is at par or better. The Panthers, ranked No. 44 in the nation, are looking for redemption after a runner-up finish in the conference championship last season.
Georgia State entered the championship having won two straight events (Furman Intercollegiate and Irish Creek Collegiate) and have won three tournaments this year.
Grey made three straight birdies on the front nine and a birdie at the last to stand five strokes off the individual lead at 3-under entering the last round. As a freshman, Grey earned Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors and all-conference first team recognition last year.
“We have put ourselves in a position to win and that is all I can ask for,” head coach Joe Inman said. “No one is going to just hand us the title tomorrow so we need to come in focused and play the best golf we can. If we do that, we will see how everything falls at the end of the day.
“I thought all of our guys played well today, but I know that each one of them can still do better. We missed a couple of shots that I think we are capable of making. On Wednesday, we need to limit our mistakes and go get ourselves a championship.”
Junior Damon Stephenson shot a second-round even par 72 and is tied for sixth at 2-under after 36 holes. Stephenson made a pair of birdies during the round.
Senior Tyler Gruca shot a 2-over 74 and is now even for the championship and tied for ninth. He made a couple of birdies early in the round and then one on the par-5 15th hole to finish the round.
Freshman Nathan Mallonee shot an even par 72 and is now 4-over and tied for 17th with one round to play. His consistent play during the round included a pair of birdies early and just two bogeys on the round.
Junior Davin White, who earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors last year, is tied for 22nd at 5-over par entering the final round. White shot a 2-over 74 on Tuesday in a round that featured five birdies and seven bogeys.
Georgia State leads UT Arlington, the first round leader, by two strokes with 18 holes to play. The Mavericks shot a 4-over 292 on Tuesday. South Alabama is third at 8-over following a round of 291. Western Kentucky and Texas State are tied for fourth at 17-over par with UL Monroe in sixth at 19-over.
Texas State's Stuart Smallwood shot a second straight 68 and stands at 8-under par and holds a four stroke individual lead. Arkansas State's Easton Key is second at 4-under par. Grey is tied with UT Arlington's Joss Gosling and South Alabama's Tyler Klava for third at 3-under par.
During the last 16 years, the Panthers have won six conference championships and had seven runner-up finishes, including one in each of the last two years. Last season, the Panthers led North Texas entering the final round of play and held the lead with just a few holes to play before the Mean Green finished strong on the final holes.
Live scoring of the entire 54-hole tournament will be available at Golfstat.com and on the Golfstat mobile app.
Following the event, Georgia State will return to the course for NCAA Regional play, May 15-17, at one of six locations throughout the country. The top five teams at each regional site will advance to the NCAA Championship, May 23-28, in Hutchinson, Kan.
