MURRAY, Ky. – In the first day of the final tournament of the fall season, the IUPUI men's golf team carded rounds of 289 and 290 (579) to sit in sixth place after 36 holes at The Buddy. Brady Schier, playing as an individual, finished 5-under with rounds of 68 and 69, finishing in third place.

"We didn't play too badly the first round considering it was a new course for us," said assistant coach Sean Lampton. "The second round was a real grind, and we lost some momentum out there. We're going to have to focus and shoot our way into it tomorrow."

Taylor Gardner, Colten Girgis and Morgan Tournemire all shot 1-over 72's in the opening 18 to lead the scoring for the Jags. Kevin Tillery followed closely behind, notching two birdies and four bogeys for a 2-over 73. Titus Boswell led all Jaguars with five birdies, but an eight on the par-4 10^th pushed him to 6-over. The freshman tallied four of his five birdies after the 10^th to fight back to card a 3-over 74.

Schier, another freshman, also registered five birdies in his opening round. After bogeying his third and fifth holes of the day, Schier got hot, birdying back-to-back holes on multiple occasions to take the individual lead at 3-under.

IUPUI, led by Tillery, got off to a quick start in the second round. The senior birdied four of his first seven holes, including three straight to get to under-par for the tournament. Tournemire also carded three birdies in his opening nine holes of the second 18, but a double bogey at the par-5 12^th pushed him back to even-par on the round. After going 2-over in his opening three holes, Gardner fought his way back, recording back-to-back birdies at six and seven to get back to even.

Schier also remained hot at the beginning of his second nine, opening with a birdie at the par-5 17^th. After two pars, the freshman would drop a shot at the difficult par-3 2^nd but would get right back under par with a birdie at the next. Following three straight pars, Schier would give away a shot at hole seven, but he again would quickly bounce back, carding back-to-back birdies. However, a double bogey at the par-4 10^th pushed the freshman back to even-par. Schier again showed his poise, finishing 2-under in the final six holes to finish with a 69 in round two.

"I came into the day not really hitting that great but I knew I had to stick to what I was working on and trusting it," shared Schier following his best two-round score as a Jag. "After I hit a few really good shots to start my round that gave me a lot of confidence to continue throughout the day. The best part about my game today was my short game. I hit a few really good wedge wedges to give myself some tap in birdies and when I got myself into trouble I made a lot of really good putts to keep the momentum going through my round."

Girgis also had a strong finish to his second round, ending the day with a birdie to get to 2-under for the round. The junior bogeyed two of his first four holes before carding five birdies in his final 12 holes. His 1-under score through 36 holes has him at a T-10 position heading into day two.

The rest of the team struggled towards the finish line. Despite his great start, Tillery ended with an 8 on his final hole of the round to push him to 2-over. Tournemire bogeyed two of his final four holes to to also finish with a 2-over 73. Gardner concluded his day with four straight pars after a bogey and double bogey on back-to-back holes pushed the senior to 4-over.

The Jags will look to get off too a quick start in the final 18 holes tomorrow morning to move their way back up the leaderboard.