HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Tech men's golf team in finished second place on the day at the Carroll College Invitational at Bill Roberts Golf Course and trail Rocky Mountain by 15 strokes going into the final round tomorrow.

The Orediggers finished the two-round first day with a 579 (-2). Tech's shot a 293 team score in the first round and improved seven strokes with a second round 286. The Battlin' Bears finished with a 553 (-23) for the first two rounds.

"Our team scores could be better, but we played a couple of strong round on some challenging greens and saw some player rise to the occasion and bounce back," said head coach Sean Ryan.

Rocky's Haydn Driver leads the field with a 135 (-9). Rocky holds the top four spots after the first day.

Matt Hobbs hit a 74 on his first round but followed with a 67 to finish with a 142 (-3) for the day. Gabe Witham is just behind Hobbs with a 143 (-2). Jhett Braley shot a 149 (+5) and is in T13.

"Matt rebounded from a slow start to shoot a 67 the second round and lead us.

"Jhett Braley bounced back well to shoot a 71 in the afternoon including making his second hole in one in the last couple of months. Gabe put together two really good rounds including 22 straight pars and kind of let it slip a bit to close out the day. He hit the ball great all day."

Joe Opitz is in 15^th place after an opening day 150 (+6). Nick Pasquarello is in T16 hitting a 153 (+9) for the first two rounds.

Playing as an individual, Blake Loberg started the tournament leading the field with an opening round 68. Loberg shot a 76 on his second round and finished the day tied for seventh.

"The round I'm most proud of today was Blake Loberg who led the field after the first round shooting a career best 68 without any bogeys. He's a great team guy and the whole team was ecstatic for him to play so well."

Jace Rhodes shot a 174 (+1) and sits in T10. JR Small is in 12^th with a 147 (+3).

"Jace Rholdes and JR Small put together two solid rounds as individuals today, too."

"We are a ways back after the way Rocky played in round two, but we are getting so close to playing our best golf."

The Carroll College Invitational concludes tomorrow at Bill Roberts Golf Course for the final round.