McGovern leads Bulldogs in Monday action at Hartford Hawk Invitational

SMITHFIELD, R.I. — The Bryant University golf team bettered its second-round score by nine strokes to advance three places Monday and move into eighth overall through the opening two rounds of the 2013 Hartford Hawk Invitational Monday.

The Bulldogs were paced by Conor McGovern (Darien, Conn.) in day one action, as the junior carded a 73 on the second lap and sits in 14th overall, bettering both his first-round score and ranking by two. Freshman Ryan Tombs (Bedford, N.H.) improved his game by four strokes in the second go-around, posting a two-round 152 (78-74) to tie for 31st at the conclusion of first-day play in his collegiate debut.

Senior Sam Russell (Southborough, Mass.) enters Tuesday's final round tied for 49th in the 96-golfer field after identical rounds of 78 (156), while sophomores Nicholas Marotta (Orange, N.Y.) and Rocco Spizuoco (Portland, Maine) are separated by a single stroke with two-round totals of 160 (84-76; t-67th) and 161 (79-82; t-74th).

As a team, the Black and Gold shot a 301 (+13) in the second round, besting their opening-round score of 310 and jumping from 11th to eighth in the 17-team tournament. Rutgers leads the group with a two-round 584 (+8), just a stroke in front of host Hartford entering Tuesday play. Loyola (Md.) is in third (588), followed by Temple (594), UConn (603) and URI (605) wrapping up the top six. Seton Hall also starts off the final round ahead of Bryant by just a single stroke (610). Fellow Northeast Conference members LIU Brooklyn (613) and Sacred Heart (614) are right behind the Bulldogs in ninth and 10th, respectively, while intrastate rival Brown sits in 13th (622) after two rounds.