George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Atlantic 10 Championship
Lowe, Cichan in Top-5 at Atlantic 10 Championship
4/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
ORLANDO, Fla. -- On day two of the Atlantic 10 Championship, the GW golf team finished strong to move into fourth place as a team while a pair of Colonials are in the top-5 individually.
Logan Lowe shot even par for the day and at +1 for the tournament is tied for third and just two shots off the lead, while Christian Cichan fired a 73 for the second straight round and is three shots back.
GW shot 299 as a team on Saturday after a 302 in the opening round, and at +25 is just ahead of Fordham (+27) and George Mason (+28). Dayton (+13) heads into the final round with a slight lead over VCU (+14) and Richmond (+16).
With swirling winds and tougher conditions throughout the day, GW lost ground on the field early but made its move up the leaderboard by playing the most difficult stretch on the golf course - holes 15 though 18 - at 2-under par collectively. Lowe made birdie on each of the final four holes, Cichan was even-par and Vince Palazzolo and Lucas Farmer were 1-over.
Heading into the 15th hole at 4-over par for the day, Lowe caught fire. He stuck his approach on 15 to a foot, made an 8-footer on 16 and a 23-footer on the par 3 17th. On the 460-yard par 4 18th, Lowe smacked a 3-wood 330 yards off the tee and then hit his approach to four feet, which he converted for a 34 on the back nine.
"I was struggling all day but that's how it normally goes; birdies come in bunches," said Lowe. "I didn't make any all day until that final stretch. I knew at some point I was due, it was just 'is it today or tomorrow?' and I got lucky and executed to get myself and my team back in contention."
Cichan, who is tied for fifth, also played his best on the back, overcoming a 2-over 38 on the front with a 1-under 35 coming in that featured eight pars and a birdie. A day after shooting 78, Palazzolo shot a 4-over 76 to move up two spots into a tie for 27th, while Farmer carded a 78 and is tied for 34th. Jack Porcelli turned in an 83.
Adam Ball of VCU leads the field and is the only player under par at -1. Eric Edwards of George Mason is even-par and in second place, one shot ahead of Lowe and two of Cichan.
"Making the four birdies, I'm happier about helping the team than myself," said Lowe. "We got right back in the mix with that strong finish and I think it gives not only me good momentum but the whole team, because we all proved coming down the stretch today that we know how to finish a round and make shots when we need to."
The final round takes place Sunday morning, with GW teeing off at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring can be followed here.
