LOXLEY, Ala. – Jason Mendel and Brooks Rabren both shot an even-par 72 in the final round of the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational to help the University of South Alabama men's golf team record its second straight top-five finish to close out the fall campaign.

It was the second time in two days that the pair posted scores of par or better, with Rabren pacing the Jaguars after tying for 14th in the individual standings with an even-par 216 54-hole total and Mendel coming in a tie for 17th one shot behind him.  USA had an 873 group score for the event, finishing fourth out of 11 teams after placing fourth at the David Toms Intercollegiate in its previous tournament Oct. 8-9.

Peter Staalbo tied for 31st individually with a 221 total, one stroke in front of Rasmus Karlsson who ended up in a tie for 33rd place.  Yannick Schütz had a 227 two-day score to tie for 45th as well.

Drew Cooke and Sylas Elliott — both competing in the event as individuals — recorded the highest finish by a Jag in the individual standings after the duo tied for 10th with a three-round 1-under-par 215 total.

"Obviously we didn't play our best today, which was a little bit disheartening," said Jag head coach Alex Hamilton.  "Sometimes the hardest thing to do is follow up a good round, especially considering yesterday was our best round as a team so far this year.  I was somewhat concerned about how we would mentally approach today, and we didn't quite handle the situation as good as we could have.  All in all, we finished fourth in a very good field, beat some very good teams and played some very good golf.

"We had some individuals play well in the tournament; with Drew and Sylas tying for 10th and Brooks finishing 14th, it was a very productive week for those guys.  We need to take those positives from this.  Overall it was a solid fall, we just need to step up our game a little bit in the spring and we will be right where we want to be."

With four individuals in the top 10, No. 31 Kennesaw State shot a 9-under-par 279 over the last 18 holes for a 27-under-par 837 total, claiming the team title by a 25-shot margin over Kentucky.  South Florida finished third, one stroke behind the Wildcats.

The Owls' Connor Coffee and Pablo Rodriquez-Tabernero were first and second in the field of 60 competitors with scores of 204 — which was 12-under par — and 208, respectively.  Only 13 players broke par over two days of play.

Rabren's round at the par-72, 7,096-yard Steelwood Country Club included a team-leading six birdies on the final day of the event.  After carding a two at the 216-yard second hole, the sophomore made the turn 1 under with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9.  On the back side of the course, Rabren birdied three par fours in a four-hole stretch starting at the 11th for his highest individual finish at the collegiate level and his first top-20 result since making his USA debut in September 2015.

The only individual in the field with a pair of eagles in the tournament, he added 12 birdies to rank among the leaders in that category as well.

Mendel was one of seven players to finish below par on par-three holes after he too birdied No. 2, also carding a three on the 316-yard fifth and a four at the ninth — playing at 516 yards — to make the turn at 1 under.  He finished play with seven consecutive pars, tying for fifth in the category with 35 over the weekend, and was also below par on the course's par fives to fall one shot shy of equaling his previous low 54-hole total as a Jag.

Cooke was a tournament-best 4 under on the par threes, finishing with a team-leading 13 birdies over two days.  All three of the senior's birdies in the last round came on his opening nine holes, as the senior began play with a four on the 542-yard 10th and made the turn coming off another four at No. 18 with a two at the 176-yard 12th in between.  Elliott's lone birdie over the last 18 holes came at No. 14 — playing at 394 yards — as he would lead South with a 3-under total on par-four holes and end up among the tournament leaders with 33 pars after a final-round 75.

Staalbo, who was second individually with 37 pars on the weekend, finished among the top 10 with an even-par total on par-four holes.  He birdied the 14th en route to a 76 in the last round.  Karlsson and Schütz both concluded play with a 78, with the former playing the final eight holes 2 under after birdies on Nos. 11, 16 and 18 and the latter carding a two at the sixth and a four at the closing hole as well.  Karlsson has 11 birdies in the event, while Schütz was 3-below par on par-five holes for the weekend.

The Jaguars' 8-under-par 280 in Saturday's second round matched the low team score in the afternoon on the opening day of the tournament.

"The biggest thing to take away from it is how we played yesterday afternoon, that was by far the best we've played as a team including the two individuals," observed Hamilton.  "I was very proud of their effort and their fight, even today we had all but two guys hang in there and fight very hard for what they could get.  We just didn't have our best game today, but I think we learned a lot and improved a lot this fall.  I'm looking forward to carrying these lessons over to the spring."

USA will also be at home in its first tournament of the spring season as well, playing host to the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate Feb. 20-21.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—

Steelwood Collegiate Invitational
Steelwood Country Club, Loxley, Ala.
Par 72, 7,096 yards
Team Scores: 1) Kennesaw State 278-280-279—837 (-27); 2) Kentucky 287-289-286—862; 3) South Florida 291-285-287—863; 4) South Alabama 295-280-298—873; 5) Richmond 288-299-292—879; T6) Southern Mississippi 300-287-293—880; T6) Lamar 296-291-293—880; 8) Rice 299-293-291—883; 9) Western Kentucky 307-289-292—888; 10) Cincinnati 292-304-295—891; 11) DePaul 300-300-308—908.

Individual Leaders: 1) Connor Coffee, KSU 66-70-68—204 (-12); 2) Pablo Rodriquez-Tabernero, KSU 71-70-67—208; 3) Tyler McDaniel, UK 72-70-68—210; 4) Jimmy Jones, USF 70-71-70—211; T5) Mans Berglund, LU 75-69-68—212; T5) Matt Codd, USM 72-66-74—212; T7) Cooper Musselman, UK 70-75-69—214; T7) Mitchell Meissner, Rice 76-69-69—214; T7) Jake Fendt, KSU 68-75-71—214; T10) four individuals with 215.

South Alabama Scores: T10) Drew Cooke* 70-71-74—215 (-1); T10) Sylas Elliott* 73-67-75—215; T14) Brooks Rabren 78-66-72—216; T17) Jason Mendel 72-73-72—217; T31) Peter Staalbo 72-73-76—221; T33) Rasmus Karlsson 76-68-78—222; T45) Yannick Schütz 75-74-78—227.
*denotes playing as an individual