STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Longwood men's golf battled a cold and windy day to close out the Rutherford Intercollegiate hosted by Penn State on Sunday afternoon, and the hard work paid off as the team moved up one spot into third.
 
Justin LaRue led the way, with the Lancer ace finishing as the runner-up.
 
Scott Jordan wasn't too far behind either, carding a top 10 finish, and four Lancers finished in the top half of the 69-player field on the Par 71, 7,130 yard course.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS:
 
The Lancers tied for the third-best round on the day with a 283, finishing with a three-round score of 292-282-283—857 (+5). Only the champions, Delaware, and the fifth-place finishers, UConn, had a better final round as a team (both shot a 282).
 
That run allowed the Lancers to finish third in the 12-team field by hopping Rhode Island, who started the day in third. Longwood finished four shots back of second place Long Island and eight back of the tournament champions, Delaware.
 
LaRue did what he does best, which was be consistent for almost the whole round. He opened the round well, posting three birdies in his first six holes, and he had four birdies on the day.
 
In the process, he had only one bogey while carding 13 pars to climb into sole possession of second place with a 70-71-68—209 (-4). He finished two shots back of the medalist.
 
Scott Jordan stayed solid to finish the round tied for eighth. He had 16 pars and nothing worse than a bogey to finish with a 71-70-73—214 (+1).
 
Meanwhile, both Nick Fleming and David LaFreniere tied for 27^th. Fleming climbed up 10 spots with an even-par 71 that was his best round of the event. He finished with a 76-73-71—220 (+7). In his final round, he had one birdie and 16 pars.
 
LaFreniere had two birdies in his final 18 holes en route to a 75-69-76—220 (+7).
 
Hunter Swidzinski was Lognwood's biggest climber on the day. He charged up 12 spots in the standings with an even-par final round. The freshman had four birdies in that round, with his final round representing an eight-shot improvement from his opening round. He tied for 32^nd with a 78-72-71—222 (+9).
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"We certainly gave it a good run today," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "I thought we started the morning just about as well as we could wish. We were definitely making some birdies to start and were beginning to put a little pressure on the leaders. Delaware played some great golf, and, unfortunately, neither us nor anybody else was able to get close enough to make them feel any real heat. We've played a lot of golf in the past week, so we're going to get back to campus, rest up a bit, fix the things we need to fix and go give it our best effort at the Big South Championship."
 
FULL RESULTS:
 
3. Longwood: 292-282-283—857 (+5)
 
2. Justin LaRue: 70-71-68—209 (-4)
T8. Scott Jordan: 71-70-73—214 (+1)
T27. Nick Fleming: 76-73-71—220 (+7)
T27. David LaFreniere: 75-69-76—220 (+7)
T32. Hunter Swidzinski: 79-73-71—222 (+9)
 
UP NEXT:
 
The regular season is complete for Longwood, and now the Lancers will play in the Big South Championship, beginning Sunday, April 20 at the Fripp Island Resort in Fripp Island, South Carolina.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower