Sept. 25, 2011

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The Ole Miss Rebels put together a  solid final round in the Mason Rudolph Championship, as senior Billy Brozovich and freshman Joe Lewis shot a 4-under and 3-under, respectively; but the Rebels fell one stroke away from taking the tournament title Sunday.

Middle Tennessee State bested Ole Miss by one stroke and third-place Georgia Southern by two in a tournament that was tightly-contested the entire weekend.

"We wanted to win badly," said Ole Miss head coach Ernest Ross.  "We didn't make a few shots down the stretch, and Middle Tennessee did.  I give them credit for playing a very good round today. This is a positive to build on for the future."

This was the best finish for Ole Miss since the 2010 SEC Championship, and the 845 total score for the entire tournament was the ninth-best in school history.  The Rebels earned the program's fourth top-five finish in their last five appearances at the Mason Rudolph Championship.

Brozovich earned the best finish of his career at Ole Miss, thanks to four birdies in the final six holes.  The Greenville, Miss. native's  4-under  tied for the best round of the day and gave him a 5-under for the tournament--three strokes back from individual medalist Hunter Green of Middle Tennessee State.

Joe David, the individual leader at the conclusion of the first and second rounds, tied Brozovich's 5-under overall score to notch his second top-five finish of the season and the fourth of his career.  David shot an even-71 Sunday, but was unable to match Green's 4-under in the final round.  

In just the second tournament of his collegiate career, Lewis earned a ninth place finish at 2-under.  Lewis struggled on Friday, shooting a 4-over, but went over-par on just three of his final 36 holes to card a 3-under and 2-under on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Blake Morris shot a 3-over 74 Sunday to finish at 7-over for the tournament.  Tom Brown finished one stroke behind Morris.

The Rebels will return to action Oct. 7-9 at the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Ga.

TEAM STANDINGS (FINAL)
MASON RUDOLPH CHAMPIONSHIP (FRANKLIN, TENN.)
1. Middle Tennessee St.  285-280-279--844
2. Ole Miss  290-275-280--845
3. Georgia Southern  284-283-281--848
4. Oklahoma  285-279-287--851
5. Memphis  288-292-276--856
6. Davidson College  288-284-286--858
7. College of Charleston  289-285-285--859
8. Vanderbilt  292-293-280--865
9. Akron  293-280-293--866
10. Samford  293-293-287--873
11. South Carolina  291-298-288--877
T12. Western Carolina  306-301-289--896
T12. Georgia State  301-295-300--896
14. Belmont  293-310-294--897
OLE MISS INDIVIDUALS
T3. Joe David  69-68-71--208
T3. Billy Brozovich  73-68-67--208
T9. Joe Lewis  75-68-69--212
T39. Blake Morris  75-71-74--220
T43. Tom Brown  73-75--73--221