VIDEO: Interview with coach Carter Collins | Live scoring/Results | Rd. 3 Pairings

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Georgia Southern backed up its 5-under-par 279 in the first round with a 9-under-par 275 in the second to claim a sizable lead at the Sun Belt Men's Golf Championships at Raven Golf Club Monday.

The Eagles are 14-under-par, while Troy (+6) sits in second place, and Georgia State (+7) is in third. UALR (+12) and UT Arlington are tied for fourth. 

Senior Kim Koivu (-6) shot 69-67 and is in first place on the individual leaderboard. Classmate Scott Wolfes (-5) shot 68-69 and is in second, while junior Andrew Klasing (-3) is in third after posting 69-70. 

Senior Matt Mierzejewski (+2) shot 75-69 and is tied for eighth, and freshman Archer Price (+3) carded 73-72 and is tied for 15th.

"We want to earn our bid to the NCAA regionals, and we have to go out and do that tomorrow," said Georgia Southern coach Carter Collins. "We like the way we're playing, but we have to play with the same urgency tomorrow that we played with today, and if we do that, we have a great chance of achieving our goal." 

The Eagles logged 42 birdies as a team today and were a combined 11-under-par on the par-5 holes. Wolfes led the team with 10 birdies, and Klasing, who is in the 5-man lineup for the first time this season, had nine.

"We're fortunate to have a deep roster this season, and we've asked a lot of guys at different times to step up and play well," said Collins.

Koivu logged four birdies and a clean card for his 67 in the second round. He had four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and posted nine straight pars on the back for the 69 in round one. 

Wolfes posted four consecutive birdies on holes 5 through 8 in the first round en route to his 68. He was even through the first 13 holes of the second round before carding birdies on holes 14 and 15 and finishing with three straight pars for the 69.

Klasing birdied hole 17 to help post his 69 in the first round and jumpstarted his second round with a birdie on hole 1. After falling to 1-over, he played the back nine 2-under for his 70.

Mierzejewski put together a clean back nine with a birdie on hole 15 to post his 69 in the second round. Price carded seven birdies and was solid all day for the Eagles. Hiccups on hole 18 in both rounds kept him for shooting under par.

The final 18 holes are scheduled for Tuesday. The Eagles are paired with Troy and Georgia State and will tee off at 8:15 a.m. CT, looking for their ninth conference title.

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