TUCSON, Ariz. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's golf team shot a final-round 1-under-par 287 Tuesday at the National Invitational Tournament, which was played at OMNI Tucson National (par 72, 7,200 yards).
The Rebels finished the 54-hole event in seventh place at 20-under 844. No. 4 Arizona State won the team title by 21 shots at 50-under 814, after a final-round 17-under 271. No. 7 USC placed second at 29-under, No. 5 Oklahoma was third at 28-under, Colorado State was fourth at 25-under and Iowa State rounded out the top five at 24-under.
Individually, ASU's Alex del Rey earned medalist honors by a shot at 17-under 199. He was 6-under during the final round. USC's Justin Suh finished in second at 16-under, while ASU's Won Jun Lee was third at 15-under. UNLV was led by senior Harry Hall, who finished tied for ninth at 8-under.
REBEL OF THE DAY: Freshman
David Rauch had UNLV's low round of the final day as he turned in a 3-under 69 to move up 16 spots in the standings. He recorded four birdies and a bogey during the round. He was bogey-free on the front nine with birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 8.
COMPLETE REBEL SCORES:
• T9th – Harry Hall, senior (66-68-74=208, -8)
• T19th – Justin Kim, junior (70-69-72=211, -5)
• T30th – David Rauch, freshman (76-69-69=214, -2)
• T46th –
Jack Trent, sophomore (73-72-72=217, +1)
• T64th – J.J. Gresco, sophomore (73-69-81=223, +7)
SONORAN SHOWDOWN: There was also an individual tournament being conducted at the resort's Sonoran Course (par 70, 6,552 yards) called the Sonoran Showdown. UNLV freshman
Chris Ebster finished tied for 14th in the 21-player event at 8-over 218 (74-72-72). ASU's Cameron Sisk won that event by a shot at 13-under.
TOP FIVE TEAMS:
1. Arizona State (280-263-271=814, -50)
2. USC (279-270-286=835, -29)
3. Oklahoma (280-276-280=836, -28)
4. Colorado State (280-281-278=839, -25)
5. Iowa State (282-280-278=840, -24)
There were a total of 16 teams and 84 individuals competing in the N.I.T.
REBEL NOTES:
• UNLV is the three-time defending Mountain West champions.
• Last year's team also finished third at the NCAA Regional in Columbus, Ohio, and placed in the top 20 at the NCAA Championship.
• Trent earned the Mountain West Freshman of the Year award last season, while Harry Hall and Trent were both recognized as All-MW performers.
• Hall was named a Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar in July.
• UNLV has played in a NCAA-record 30 straight regionals.
• This year marks head coach Dwaine Knight's 32nd season leading the Rebel program.
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV's next action will be March 28-30 at The Goodwin in Palo Alto, California.
