LAREDO, Texas – Attitude is everything.

Louisiana Tech head coach Matt Terry pinpointed attitude as the reason the Bulldog golf team opened the spring with a strong showing at the Laredo Country Club in extremely tough conditions.

Tech entered Tuesday in fifth place, but shot a team total of two-over-par 290 (the second best team total of the day) to move up three spots and finish second in the 14-team Border Olympics.

It was two days of playing in tough wind conditions on a tough course.

"When is windy like this, when its blowing sideways, having the right attitude is key," said Terry. "These guys had the right attitude before we ever left Ruston. They knew what to expect. We checked the weather and knew it was going to be windy. It's a tricky course. A lot of cross winds. There were tough lies when chipping around the greens. Elevated greens. Some run offs.

"Dealing with cross winds and down winds is difficult. It plays different with your shot. I was impressed with how we controlled our golf ball. The bogeys were going to come now matter what in these conditions. It was a matter of keeping the really big numbers off your card."

Tech finished with four players in the top 12 of a field of 86 golfers.

After Sam and Mac Murphy both fired four-under-par two-round totals of 140 on Monday, it was Hunter Battles and James Swash's turn on Tuesday. Battles shot a three-under par 69 while Swash added a one-under-par 71 as Tech passed 50^th ranked Baylor, Sam Houston State and Lamar to finish as the runner-up to the host Houston Cougars.

"Those guys played solid today," said Terry. "Sam and Mac got us off to a great start yesterday and put us in a position to make a run at Houston today. (Houston) played great to shoot three-under as a team in these conditions.

"(Holes) two, three, four and five were the toughest holes today. The wind was blowing 25 to 35 as we were finishing. And we had six pars on No. 5, a (par 3) that was playing about 250 yards. I was really impressed that all six of our guys finished with a par on that hole in those conditions."

Sam Murphy (71-69-74=214) finished fourth while Mac Murphy (71-69-76=216) finished tied for sixth. Battles (77-72-69=218) moved up 24 spots on Tuesday, to finish in a tie for ninth. Swash (73-75-71=219) tied for 12^th. Grant Smith (76-74-76=226) tied for 33^rd while Lake Juban (85-76-85=246) finished 85^th.

Tech returns to action March 6-8 at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn.