The Eastern men’s golf team continued to struggle as it finished in last place in the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Derek Dolenc Invitational over the past couple of days.

The Panthers shot a 932 as a team, finishing 34 strokes behind 14^th place Mott Community College at the par-71, Gateway Golf Course in Madison.

Freshman Alvaro Hernandez continued to lead the Panthers after shooting three rounds in the 70s. Hernandez has host seven rounds in the 70s in the fall season.

Hernandez shot two rounds of 2-over, 73 Monday and finished with a 4-over, 75 Tuesday for a total of 221.

Fellow freshman Charlie Adare shot two rounds in the 70s as well. Adare shot a 1-over, 72 on Monday morning and then fired a 5-over, 76 Tuesday afternoon.

Junior Daniel Hughes shot three rounds in the 70s as well after finishing with a total score of 232 on the day.

Host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville took the team title after shooting a team score of 844 for the tournament.

The Cougars were led by senior Parker Lawerence who shot a 204 and tied for third place in the individuals. He tied with Hunter Richardson from Tennessee-Martin.

Lawrence and Richardson both shot two rounds in the 60s. Lawrence shot a 6-under, 65 in round two of the tournament, which was the low round for any golfer.

Richardon’s low round came in the second round as well when he shot a 5-under, 66.

Junior Jordan Rykal from South Dakota won the individual title when he shot two rounds of 5-under, 66 and a round of 4-under, 67.

Belmont, Tennessee-Martin, Missouri State and South Dakota rounded out the top five teams.

The Panthers will be back in action over the weekend at the John Dallio DePaul Memorial tournament at Ruffled Feather Golf Course in Lemont.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]