Feb. 15, 2010

HOUSTON - Matthew Harvey and Jonathan Bale shot two-round totals of 154 to lead Louisiana Tech in the first two rounds of the Rice Intercollegiate held Monday at Westwood Golf Club.

All 81 competitors from the 15 teams battled strong winds and cold temperatures during the opening 36 holes of the event as only one par round was recorded out of 162 total rounds played Monday.

Harvey and Bale are tied for 20th place heading into Tuesday's final round while the Bulldogs are in 12th place out of a field of 15 teams.

Bale shot an opening round 75, which was the 10th best score of the round, followed by a second round 79. Harvey fired back-to-back 77's to record his 10-over-par 154.

Joel Thelen (79-84=163, T59th), Cody Blankenship (84-80=164, T62nd) and Cody Santone (85-80=165, T67th) rounded out the Bulldogs scoring on the first day. Rice golfer Michael Whitehead shot a par 72 - the lone par or better round logged on the first day by any golfer. Whitehead is tied with teammate Chris Brown and Auburn's Will McCurdy with the lead at three-over-par 147.

Rice leads the event with a two-round team total of 18-over-par 594 followed by Auburn (602), Pacific (612), Nebraska (621), Houston (621), Northern Colorado (621), Florida Gulf Coast (622), Missouri State (625), Kansas (625), New Orleans (626), Miami of Ohio (628), LA Tech (631), Houston Baptist (636), UL-Monroe (638) and Hartford (684).

The final round of the event will start Tuesday at 8:15 a.m.