Daley enters top 10 with round-two 71

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Alex Daley (Hudson, Mass.) shaved six strokes off his day-one score Saturday at the Northeast Conference Golf Championships, moving into the top 10 with a two-round score of 148 and leading all five Bryant golfers in the 55-player field.

Daley's 71 came in at one under par after a 77 in Friday's opening round, and the senior moves up 14 places to enter into a tie for 10th overall entering Sunday's final 18 holes. The 12 golfers who make up the top 10 are separated by just seven strokes after two rounds of golf.

Classmate Kyle Hoffman (Pawtucket, R.I.), after leading the Bulldogs in round one and entering Saturday's round tied for ninth overall, fell to 13th in the individual field, carding a 76 and is six over par with a two-day score of 150.

Senior Michael Pyne (Foxboro, Mass.) dropped 11 spots after a tough second day on the green, scoring an 80 to sit in a tie for 29th, while Brent Besch (Wallingford, Conn.) is just a single stroke behind after matching Pyne's second-day number to sit in 32nd overall.

Greg Najarian (Rumford, R.I.) moves up four places in the standings, improving on his first-round score by three strokes for a day-two 78 and sits knotted for 35th at 15 over par entering the NEC Tournament final round.

Robert Morris's C.G. Mercatoris leads the pack and is three under, carding a two-day 141. Sacred Heart has pulled away from the field to lead the team competition, besting its day-one score by eight strokes for a 287 and a two-day 582, just six strokes over for the par-72 course. For the second round in a row, the Pioneers' score bests last year's tournament low (300), and they lead second-place Robert Morris by 17 strokes.

The Bulldogs, who are competing only as individuals as they are ineligible to qualify for NCAA team play due to the four-year reclassification process, would have carded a 305 on the day, one more than the team's Friday total. The Bulldogs' two-round score of 609 would place the Black and Gold in a tie for fifth entering Sunday's final round.

The tournament's third and final round is scheduled to begin Sunday at 7:30 a.m. from ChampionsGate, Fla.