WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – Behind two individual par-or-better rounds, the UNLV men's golf team rallied with a final-round 1-under 279 Wednesday to finish third at the Southwestern Invitational hosted by Pepperdine at North Ranch Country Club (par 70, 6,753 yards).
FINAL-ROUND SURGE: Junior
Ryan Abuan carded the day's individual low at 4-under 66 and junior
Zach Little shot an even-par 70 to help the Rebels surge three spots up the team standings. The Scarlet & Gray was the only team to shoot under par in the third round – six shots ahead of the next best score – and to have two players record par-or-better scores on the day.
REBEL ROUNDUP: Abuan tied for fourth at 2-under 208 through 54 holes to headline three top-15 individual finishes by the Scarlet & Gray. Following their counterpart, senior
Trevor Lewis tied for ninth at even-par 210 and Little (+3) tied for 15th. Behind them were
Wyatt Plattner (+9) in a tie for 32nd, junior
Mason Snyder (+15) in 55th and senior
Brett Sawaia (+16) as an individual in 57th.
CHAMPIONS: Winning the team title, No. 15 Pepperdine never relinquished its lead and finished at 11-under 829. Claiming individual medalist honors, San Diego State's Harry Takis ended the event at 7-under 203.
UP NEXT: The Rebels will compete next at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate being hosted by Hawai'i from Feb. 12-14 at the Ocean Course at Hokuala.
NOTES:
- UNLV finished ahead of four top-26 nationally ranked teams at the event, including No. 17 New Mexico, No. 20 Utah, No. 21 UCLA and No. 26 USC.
- The Rebels' final-round score (-1) was an 11-shot improvement from their second-round tally (+10). It was one shot off their first-round 2-under 278.
- Additionally, UNLV joined the host Waves as the only two teams to shoot under par in two rounds during the three-day tournament.
