Sept. 16, 2008

FLORENCE, S.C. - The Samford University men's golf team earned a 14th-place finish at the 24th-annual Raines Development Group Intercollegiate Tournament on Tuesday after turning in second- and third-round scores of 294 and 298 at the Country Club of South Carolina.

After tallying an opening-round score of 303 on Monday, Samford rebounded in the final two rounds to finish with a three-day total of 895. Georgia Southern won the tournament with a score of 22-under 842. The mark proved to be a tournament record, surpassing the previous mark of 849 set by USC Aiken in 2005.

The Bulldogs' Andrew Villarreal led the team with a three-day score of 216 (70-74-72). A senior from Decatur, Ala., Villarreal turned in scores of 74 and 72 on Tuesday to earn a 12th-place finish in the tournament.

Samford's Ian Cutting turned in the second-best score on the team with a final mark of 223 (76-73-74). Sophomore Martin Bunt carded the best round of the day on Tuesday en route to a 224 (79-70-75) finish, while sophomore Houston Hough posted a 232 (78-77-77) and Tyler Baird tallied a final score of 240 (83-80-77).

Brent Paladino of the College of William & Mary won the tournament at 14-under 202, also a tournament record that broke the previous 54-hole mark of 207 set by Ryan Gildersleeve of the University of South Alabama in 2002.

The Samford University men's golf team will next be in action Oct. 5-7, as the Bulldogs travel to Statesboro, Ga., for the 2008 Georgia Southern Invitational.