CHOUDRANT, La. – The Louisiana Tech men's golf team entered round two of the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in fifth place, but responded in full on Monday afternoon, combining to finish -3 for the day, leaping into third place at -2 with 18 holes to play on the tournament.
 
Three Bulldogs finished the day under par as brothers Sam and Mac Murphy along with Karsten Green shot below par. Mac Murphy birdied six of his 18 holes to finish three under, leaping up eight spots in the individual leaderboard to 4^th.
 
Meanwhile, Sam Murphy and Karsten Green each shot 71's on the afternoon improving Tech's positioning on the overall team leaderboard.
 
James Swash finished his second round two over (74), but remained among the top-20 individual leaders, tied for 16^th overall.
 
"I'm really proud of the run the guys made today," head coach Matt Terry remarked. "After yesterday's round I made the point that I wanted to see how we would respond, and I was impressed with our effort overall as a team. Mac Murphy dialed up another solid round as did Sam Murphy and Karsten Green. I can't wait to see how we progress tomorrow and hopefully end this tourney on a high note."
 
Georgia combined to shoot the best team round of the day, vaulting into first place after a -6 282 for the second round. Texas State followed closely behind in second with a five-under 283.
 
A seven-over 295 dropped Sunday's leader Lamar down into fourth position, while Troy was the biggest mover of the day, leaping up four spots to tie for fourth heading into Tuesday's final round.
 
Troy's Connor Futrell  and Central Arkansas' Trey DePriest lead all individuals at -6 for the tournament. Mac Murphy (up eight spots) and Sam Murphy (up 14 spots) were the biggest movers for Tech's A team.
 
Tech's Hunter Battles jumped up 15 spots in the individual standings after his Monday round of even par.
 
The Bulldogs open tomorrow's final round as the no. 3 overall seed at two under par. All teams will tee off at 8:00 a.m. in the shotgun start finale to the tournament.
 
Be sure to follow @LATechGolf on all social media platforms and stay plugged into Golfstat.com and LATechSports.com for all information, news and live scores for the 2019-20 Bulldog Golf team.