GREENVILLE, N.C. - The IUPUI men's golf team posted a final round 305 at the ECU Intercollegiate on Tuesday (Mar. 22) at Brook Valley Country Club, finishing tied for eighth among the 12-team field at 914 (304-305-305). Sophomore Taylor Gardner capped a top-10 finish with a final round, 2-over 74, ending the event at 220 (73-73-74). 

Three others - Matthew Baxter, Colten Girgis and Sam McWilliams - all posted final round scores of 77 to help account for the 305 while Brock Aten posted a score of 78. Gardner had a team-high three birdies on Tuesday, finishing the tournament with a team best nine birdies for the week. Both Baxter and Girgis had seven each for the week. 

The Jaguars closed well on Tuesday as McWilliams was 1-under on his final nine holes of the day and Gardner was even on his final nine, closing with seven straight pars. Girgis was 2-over on his final nine, helping offset a double bogey just before the turn. 

For the week, Baxter closed at 230 (75-78-77) and Girgis shot 231 (77-77-77). McWilliams finished at 235 (81-77-77) and Aten rounded out the group at 243 (79-86-78).

"I think it was crucial to get a lot of qualifying rounds, or even rounds in general. I think over the winter, some of us focus on our swing a little too much and we have to relearn how to actually score," Girgis said of completing the Spring Break trip. "So going out and having a week off from school and just playing a bunch of golf really helped us learn what works and what doesn't.

"Along with that, I think we can vastly improve between now and conference. Some of these problems might take longer to fix than others, but I think we will be in a good spot come late April." 

Southern Miss breezed to the team title, winning by 21 shots over second-place Francis Marion with an even par 864 for the week. Francis Marion finished at 885 and host East Carolina was third at 888. Gardner-Webb's Zack Byers and West Virginia's Max Green finished tied atop the leaderboard at 5-under 211 and a pair of players from Southern Miss - Brice Wilkinson and Ryan Dupuy - both finished at 3-under 213. 

Gardner finished tied for tenth among the 78-player field for his first top-10 finish of the year and second of his collegiate career. 

Selected Jaguars will be back in action next week as IUPUI will send individual entries to the Butler Spring Invitational at Highland Country Club on Mar. 28-29.