State College, PA – The Towson University men's golf team has wrapped 54 holes of play at the Rutherford Intercollegiate, sitting in eighth place at 12-over par, 580. 

After a slow start for round one Towson managed to bounce back for the final 18 holes of the day, improving by 14 strokes in between rounds to shoot 283. Four players saw at least a three-stroke improvement between rounds. The Tigers 283 was the second lowest score in a 12-team field, and they were one of two teams to be under par for that round. 

The Black & Gold also rank second for number of pars in the tournament, tallying 118 for the day. Each player earned at least 21 apiece. 

The scoring averages for the first two rounds of the tournament were 74.49 and 72.83. 

With two players ranked in the top-three individually, Valparasio leads by five strokes over defending champion Penn State after posting 562 (-6). The Nittany Lions and Georgetown are tied for second with scores of 567 (-1). Valparasio's Caleb VanArragon was day one's top performer of the tournament after rounds of 71 and 65. 

Brad Riley led the Tigers first day performance, tying for eighth in a field of 75 players. The senior had consistent rounds of 70 and 71 to finish 1-under par. For the front 18 Riley offset a bogey with two birdies and was on par for the remaining 15 holes. He bogeyed three more holes during the last 18 but managed to balance them out with three more birdies. 

Justin Griffith wrapped up the day tied for 21^st after rounds of 74 and 70. During the first round Griffith was on par for the front nine, but unfortunately recorded three bogeys during the last nine holes. He found success for the second round after tallying four birdies, two of which were back-to-back on holes four and five.

Tied for 36^th was Jeremy Summerson who had rounds of 75 and 72. The senior notched two birdies across the 36 holes of play and fired an eagle on hole No. five of round two.  

Julian Gonzalez finished play tied for 48^th having rounds of 79 and 70. His nine stroke improvement between rounds was supported by three birdies throughout the back 18. 

Ryan Peters shot 78 and 72 to tie for 52^nd. He earned three birdies during each round to notch six total for the day. 

Poonyapat Nantsupawat rounded out the squad in 66^th with rounds of 79 and 74. He tallied three birdies for day one.

The final 18 holes of play resume tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. with a shotgun start.