Oct. 16, 2001

TAMPA, Fla. - The Ole Miss men's golf team made a final push in the last day of competition at the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate on Tuesday to finish in a tie for sixth place overall. The Rebels finished the tournament tied with North Carolina State.

The tournament was played at the Old Memorial Golf Course, a par-72, 7,236-yard course in Tampa, Fla.

Senior golfer Tommy Clement paced the Rebels for the tournament with a two-day performance of 74-72-73-219 and finished in a tie for 15th. Clement's finish was his first top-20 finish of the season.

"It was a great tournament for Tommy (Clement)," said Ole Miss head coach Woody Cowart. "You can definitely see the difference he makes in the lineup and how much we miss him when he isn't in our lineup. Tommy, Jarrod Gardner and Ben Lowery played tremendous today."

Gardner shot 1-under-par for the day, while Lowery hit par for the final round.

The Rebels entered the final day of competition in the No. 8 spot and managed to move up into the tie for sixth behind the play of Clement, but it was not enough to push Ole Miss into the top five. The Rebels shot the second lowest total of the day with a 285. Host team and champion Florida shot the low round of 278.

"The first day continues to be the difference for us," said Cowart. "We just aren't finishing rounds off like we should. Today we had it rolling, but it wasn't enough. We played the final round like we need to, tough and aggressive. We are just a really young team right now."

The Rebels will now have two weeks to prepare for the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate on Oct. 29-30, in Baton Rouge La.

TEAM SCORES 1. Florida 292-273-278-843 2. N. Florida 293-289-287-869 TCU 296-284-289-869 4. Kentucky 289-290-293-872 5. Ohio State 290-292-291-873 6. OLE MISS 297-295-285-877 NC State 294-294-289-877 8. LSU 299-291-296-886 9. Fla. State 306-294-289-889 10. Coll of Charleston 304-298-289-891 11. Rhode Island 305-297-291-893 12. Texas A&M 308-295-291-894 13. Ga. State 306-306-290-902 14. S. Florida 304-296-305-905 15. UCF 312-305-298-915

INDIVIDUAL SCORES T15. Tommy Clement 74-72-73-219 T24. Jordan Dempsey 75-77-69-221 T24. Ben Lowery 75-74-72-221 T24. Jarrod Gardner 73-77-71-221 T37. Andrew Medley 77-72-74-223