BRASELTON, Ga. – Sylas Elliott and Drew Cooke won their matches to record two points for the University of South Alabama men's golf team in the semifinals of the Bridgestone Match Play on Tuesday, but when the last pairing on the course ended in a draw it resulted in a 3½-2½ victory for Jacksonville.

The Dolphins, seeded second after 36 holes of stroke play on Monday, advanced to face No. 1 seed Lipscomb in the finals in the afternoon.

"We got off to a little bit of a slow start, we were down in four matches relatively early in the day," Jaguar head coach Alex Hamilton said.  "The middle stretch went our way and with 5-6 holes left to play we were up in four matches, so we had a really good shot at pulling out the victory.  Things didn't shake out our way down the stretch, but the guys fought hard; Jacksonville is a talented team, they played better than us — making two eagles and a good number of birdies — the last four or five holes."

Trailing 2-0 at the Legends Golf Course at Chateau Elan, Elliott cut the Jags' deficit in half with a 3 & 1 victory over Ryan Jahn, who posted the low individual total on the first day of the event with a 4-under-par 140.  Elliott was 3 down through seven holes, but he evened the match with a pair of pars around a birdie four on the ninth and then took his first lead on No. 11 with another par on the 409-yard hole.  The junior would lead the rest of the way, going 2 up on the 13th before sealing the win with a birdie on No. 16.

Cooke drew South to within a point again, making the score 3-2, with 2 & 1 win over Sam Uhland.  Like Elliott, Cooke never held the lead on the front nine, though he recovered from one-hole deficits by claiming Nos. 4 and 7.  A birdie at the 566-yard 10th put the senior in front for good, a lead that would grow as large as 3 up after back-to-back wins on Nos. 13 and 14 before a par on the 17th — playing at 452 yards — clinched the victory.

The final match-up was between the Jaguars' Yannick Schütz and Spencer Schultz.  The Dolphin won each of the first two holes, but USA's freshman responded with victories on the fifth and sixth to even the match up.  Following a par on No. 7, Schütz took a 2 up lead with consecutive birdies before the turn, but on the back side of the course Schultz eagled the par-five 10th and added a par on No. 11 to square the contest once again; that's how it would end after both were even on the final eight holes.

"The first two matches obviously went their way, but after that it was neck and neck," stated Hamilton.  "We had some chances to make some noise on the back end of our rotation.  Drew and Sylas both won, Yannick had a 20-footer to win the match that slid just by the hole and Peter [Staalbo] had his opponent chip in for eagle on No. 16."

Peter Staalbo was all square in his match after he birdied the 155-yard 15th, but Elliott Fullalove chipped in for a two on the next hole — playing at 344 yards — and then closed out the win for JU when he parred No. 17.

Senior David Wicks put the first point on the board for the Dolphins with a 4 & 3 win over Rasmus Karlsson, an advantage that JU would double when Raul Pereda defeated Jason Mendel 3 & 1.  Although Mendel never led before the turn, he birdied the ninth to cut a 2-hole deficit in half before drawing even on No. 11.  The Jaguar junior birdied the 213-yard 12th to go in front for the first time, however Pereda squared the match one hole later with a birdie three; after regaining the lead on No. 15, an eagle on the 452-yard 17th clinched the match for JU.

After playing a pair of tournaments in two weeks to begin the season, USA will not be in action until play tees off on Monday, Oct. 3 at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

"I think our guys have learned a lot these first two weeks, but the competition is only going to get stronger," Hamilton observed.  "The Jerry Pate always has one of the strongest fields in the entire country, we're looking forward to that challenge.  The guys have to step their game up a little bit.  We've been fighting ourselves these first two tournaments, hopefully we can get through that hurdle and play some good golf coming up."

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—

Bridgestone Match Play
Legends Golf Course at Chateau Elan, Braselton, Ga.
Par 72, 7,033 yards
Semifinal Match: Jacksonville def. South Alabama, 3½-2½ 
No. 1: David Wicks (JU) def. Rasmus Karlsson (USA), 4 & 3
No. 2: Raul Pereda (JU) def. Jason Mendel (USA), 3 & 1
No. 3: Sylas Elliott (USA) def. Ryan Jahn, 3 & 1
No. 4: Elliott Fullalove (JU) def. Peter Staalbo (USA), 2 & 1
No. 5: Yannick Schütz (USA) vs. Spencer Schultz (JU), A/S
No. 6: Drew Cooke (USA) def. Sam Uhland (JU), 3 & 1