The Missouri State men's golf team stayed competitive through the third round as the Bears pulled away from Troy and took sole possession of third place. The Bears shot 280-285-286–851 for a one under par performance in Hattiesburg. The 6902 yard course posed little threat to the Bears as every golfer had at least one birdie in the third round. 
            Senior Adam Fisher tied his first round score and season best in round three, firing 67-79-67--213. Fisher carded five birdies in the third round to remain four-under par on day two. Shooting par over three rounds, the senior moved up 24 spots in the leaderboard to tie for 13th.
Brad Carpenter remained a consistent force shooting 71-71-72–214 to tie for 18th. Two strokes behind Carpenter, Kory Franks carded 73-71-72--216 with Jack Knoesel one stroke behind him with 69-71-79--217. Competing as an individual, freshman Carter Lee carded 72-74-72--218 in his collegiate debut to tie for 36th. Lukas McCalla rounded out the Bears lineup with 80-72-75--227.
            In the team standings, host Southern Mississippi won by a four stroke margin with 291-273-279--843, Mercer was second with 847, the Bears were third with 851, followed by Bowling Green State (855), Troy (856), FGCU (862), Central Arkansas (866), Stephen F Austin and Samford tied for eighth with 868, Winthrop (869) rounded out the top 10. Nicholls State (870), Southeastern Louisiana (881), and U. of New Orleans (884) rounded out the 13-team field.
            The men's golf team is back in action Sept. 24-25 in Madison, Ill. for the Derek Dolenc Invitational hosted by SIU Edwardsville.