What you need to know:
* Georgia State fired a final round 8-over 292 to finish fourth at the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Tuesday at The Raven Golf Club in Miramar Beach, Fla.
* Senior Damon Stephenson and freshman Alexander Herrmann led the Panthers by tying for 12th place at 3-over par.
* Georgia State will now wait to see if it receives an at-large bid to NCAA Regional play. The announcement is scheduled for the morning of May 4.
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Georgia State shot a final round 8-over 292 to finish fourth at the Sun Belt Men's Golf Championship on Tuesday at The Raven Golf Club. Three Panthers finished among the top 20.
Georgia State entered the week ranked No. 62 in the most recent GolfStat rankings. The Panthers will now have nearly two weeks to wait and see if they have qualified for the postseason for the second year in a row. NCAA Regional announcement is scheduled for the morning of May 4.
Senior Damon Stephenson led the Panthers with a final round even par 71 to tie for 12th along with teammate Alexander Herrmann who added a 1-over 72. Both finished at 4-over par.
“As the defending champions, we are extremely disappointed with the result,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We made as many birdies as Georgia Southern, but big numbers killed us this week, just like they have all season.
“We now have to wait and see if we qualify for NCAA Regional play. We have a couple of weeks to wait and it is going to be a tough period because we controlled our own destiny but gave it away.”
Georgia State equaled Georgia Southern's 53 birdies, but recorded 16 double bogeys or worse over the 54-hole event.
Stephenson shot his second-straight 71, making five birdies in the final round, while Alexander Herrmann's 1-over 72 came after a team-low 3-under 68 on Monday afternoon.
Freshman Max Herrmann added a final round 73 to finish tied for 17th at 5-over par.
Senior Davin White tied for 29th at 9-over par following a final round 78, while junior J.J. Grey shot a 5-over 76 on Tuesday to finish tied for 32nd at 10-over.
Despite a final round 11-over 295, Georgia Southern held on for a 16-stroke win, finishing the event at 3-under par. UT Arlington finished second at 13-over, followed by UL Monroe in third at 14-over. Georgia State finished one stroke back at 15-over par in fourth, followed by Troy in fifth at 17-over.
Georgia Southern's Kim Koivu shot even par on Tuesday to win by two strokes at 6-under par. Teammate Scott Wolfes, ranked No. 50 in the country, finished second at 4-under, followed by Troy's Jared Bettcher in third at 2-under par. Texas State's Tyler Saunders finished fourth at 1-under par, followed by a trio of golfers in fifth at even par.
Since 1998, Georgia State has finished in the top three in the conference tournament all but three times with eight titles and six second-place finishes.
NCAA Regional play is scheduled for May 14-16 at six national sites. The NCAA championship is scheduled for May 29-June 1 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
