April 21, 2008

TEXARKANA, Ark. - The Marshall University men's golf team shaved 15 strokes off of its first-round score by firing a 4-over 292 in Monday's second round of the 2008 Conference USA Championship at the par-72 Texarkana Country Club.

Marshall, however, remains in 11th place at the 11-team conference tournament with one round left to play.

The Thundering Herd's Christian Brand carded MU's first sub-par round of the tournament with his 1-under 71 on Monday. The sophomore registered three birdies and two bogeys. His two-day total of 147 paces Marshall through the event's first 36 holes and put him in a tie for 18th place.

Senior Trent Schambach posted his second straight round of 74 to sit one stroke back of Brand with a 148 and in a tie for 22nd place. MU sophomore Josh Boswell shaved seven strokes from day one, recording a 2-over 74 in round two while junior Nathan Kinker went from an opening-round 79 to a 73 on Monday.

Memphis leads the tournament with a score of 568, followed by Houston with a 572. UAB's Zach Sucher leads the event with a 10-under 134, three strokes ahead of Southern Miss' Paul Apyan (137).

The final round of the C-USA Championship will tee off at 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, with the team winner awarded an automatic berth to the NCAA Regional.

Complete results and live scoring available at www.golfstat.com.

Marshall (36-hole total): 599 (307-292)

Marshall Team Score (36-hole total): Christian Brand 147 (76-71), Trent Schambach 148 (74-74), Nathan Kinker 152 (79-73), Josh Boswell 155 (81-74), Jonathan Pepe 157 (78-79)