CINCINNATI, OHIO - UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's golf team's Connor Brown and Noah Connor each cracked the top-five individuals in the University of Cincinnati's Bearcat Invitational at Coldstream Country Club. The Spartans claimed the overall lead after a 36-hole Monday with play suspended due to darkness for a handful of players who were due to complete their final holes.
 
The Spartans hold a two-shot lead at eight-under-par (560) over Illinois State, with two golfers still on the course, and the host Cincinnati on the par-71, 7,279-yard course. UNCG fired a seven-under-par (277) first-round score to hold a share of the first-round lead with Cincinnati through 18 holes. All four Spartans counting on the team scorecard held their ground through nine holes of the second round, each posting an even-par front-nine effort. UNCG's top-four golfers carded seven birdies on the back nine to post a one-under-par (283).
 
Brown leaped into a top-five individual spot on the leaderboard with a first-round four-under-par (67) effort. The sophomore posted birdies on five holes, three on the back nine holes, and an eagle on the par-five, 580-yard tenth hole. After finishing the first 18 holes tied for third, Brown fired a one-over-par (72) effort in his second round performance to settle into a tie for fifth place at three-under-par.
 
Noah Connor joined Brown in a tie for fifth place individually, totaling three-under-par (139). Connor posted a first-round three-under-par (68) thanks to four birdies and only one bogey. The senior carded a first-round birdie on the tournament's most difficult hole, the par-three 220-yard second hole to ignite a back-to-back birdie stretch. Connor finished his first back-nine effort two-under-par (33). The senior secured his even-par (71) second-round scorecard with a birdie on the par-four, 461-yard 18th hole.
 
Tommy Lamb joined his teammates in the top-ten, posting a two-under-par (140) score competing as an individual. Lamb shot one-over-par (72) in the first round with three birdies. Starting each round on the tenth tee, Lamb surged in his final nine holes on the course's front-nine stretch with three birdies and an eagle. The surge began with his fourth-hole eagle on the par-five, 559-yard hole with his momentum rolling through the next four holes where he carded three birdies on four tries.
 
Symon Balbin and Randall Hudson each posted one-under-par (141) efforts to sit in a tie for 13th individually. Balbin tallied nine birdies throughout the day, including a first-round birdie on the par-three, 239-yard 11th hole that currently stands as the second-hardest of the tournament. Hudson also tallied nine birdies on the day. The junior surged in the middle of his second-round effort where he carded a birdie in four of six holes beginning on the ninth hole, the tournament's sixth-hardest hole.
 
Inside the Scorecard

• UNCG posted the second-best score on the course's difficult par three holes (five-over-par).
• The Spartans also recorded the second-best tally on par four holes (five-over-par) and par fives (13-under-par).
• Connor shot one-under-par on all par three holes thanks to two first-round birdies.
• Brown's par-five five-under-par score stands in a tie for second place while Balbin's and Lamb's par-five efforts currently sit fifth place (four-under-par) among the field.
• The Spartans' 35 birdies as a team are second amongst all 13 teams in the field.

Up Next
The Spartans play the final 18 holes in the Bearcat Invitational tomorrow at 10 a.m. after the remainder of the field completes their second round at 8:15 a.m.