What you need to know:
* Georgia State used its lowest round in relation to par (7-under, 281) to climb to sixth-place at 2-under entering the final round of the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate.
* Junior Nathan Mallonee shot 71-70 to stand at 3-under par and tied for 11th entering the final round of play.
* Mallonee has shot par or better in nine of his last 11 rounds. He already has three top 25 finishes this fall and one top 10.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Using its lowest round in relation to par this fall, the Georgia State men's golf team shot up the leaderboard during the second round of the UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers 7-under 281 leaves them at 2-under and in sixth place with 18 holes to play on Monday.
Junior Nathan Mallonee, who has three top 25 finishes this fall, stands tied for 11th at 3-under par following rounds of 71 and 70 on Sunday.
Georgia State, which at one point was one shot out of last place midway through the first round, now sits just three strokes outside a fourth-straight top five finish.
“We definitely did not get off to the start we wanted,” head coach Joe Inman said. “However, once the birdies started falling, we were able to put together a really nice run over 27 holes. We have now put ourselves in position for a nice finish and some great momentum heading into the spring if we can play well on Monday.”
Mallonee finished with 10 birdies over the course of 36 holes on Sunday and already has one top 10 finish this fall. He has shot par or better in nine of his last 11 rounds.
Senior J.J. Grey is tied for 21st at 1-under par following rounds of 75 and 68, the Panthers low round of the day. His second round include three birdies and an eagle.
Sophomore Max Herrmann rebounded from a morning 77 to shoot a 3-under 69 in the afternoon and stand tied for 34th at 2-over par. He finished the day with 10 birdies and at one point was 6-under thru nine holes of his second round.
Sophomore Alexander Herrmann added a pair of 74s and is tied for 43rd at 4-over par. Freshman Nathan Williams rounded out the line-up with rounds of 73 and 79 and is tied for 65th at 8-over par.
Freshman Nick Budd, competing as an individual, shot 74-77 and is tied for 62nd at 7-over par.
No. 20 Purdue will take a four stroke lead into the final round following a remarkable 22-under 266 in the afternoon. The Boilermakers are 33-under and lead No. 18 North Carolina which stands at 29-under. Northwestern is third at 13-under, followed by host UNC Greensboro in fourth at 11-under. Former conference foe VCU is fifth at 5-under.
Purdue's Austin Eoff shot 64-67 and holds the individual lead at 13-under entering the final round. North Carolina's Henry Do is second at 11-under, followed by Purdue's Brian Carlson in third at 9-under. North Carolina's Joshua Martin is fourth at 8-under, while a group of four golfers stand tied for fifth at 5-under.
Monday's final round will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Georgia State will be paired with UNC Greensboro and VCU. Live scoring can be found at GolfStat.com.
This event will conclude the fall season for the Panthers. Georgia State will return to action at the Mobile Intercollegiate, Feb. 22-23, in Mobile, Ala.
