CINCINNATI, Ohio - Freshman Sam McWilliams continued his strong stretch of play in leading the IUPUI men's golf team on Monday (Oct. 18) at the Xavier Invitational. McWilliams carded rounds of 71 and 75 at Maketewah Country Club and is tied for 13th among the 74-player field heading into Tuesday's final round. 

As a team, IUPUI posted scores of 304 and 296 and is tenth of 12 teams competing after 36 holes. 

In the morning round, McWilliams was solid, making 16 pars, a birdie and a bogey for an even par 71. Matthew Baxter made four birdies in his round as part of his 75 and redshirt freshman Morgan Tournemire posted a round of 77. Sophomore Taylor Gardner had a countable 81 and junior Preston Nanthavong, a late add to the lineup, shot a round of 85. 

The afternoon was much kinder to the Jaguars, particularly at the start of the round. 

Tournemire opened his round with four straight birdies and Gardner made three straight after making par on his first hole. McWilliams made birdie on three of his first five holes, sandwiched around an early bogey. Similarly, Baxter opened with back-to-back birdies on his second and third holes of his round. 

Gardner ultimately paced IUPUI in the afternoon with a 1-under 70 and both McWilliams and Baxter shot 75. Tournemire closed at 76 and Nanthavong shot a 78. 

McWilliams topped the field with 26 pars on Monday while Baxter and Gardner had a team-high seven birdies each. 

Morehead State leads the 12-team field at 579 and Northern Illinois is second at 581. NIU's Reece Nilsen leads the field at 2-under 140. 

Play will resume with a 9:00 a.m. start on Tuesday as IUPUI will be paired with Northern Kentucky for the tournament's final round.