GOODYEAR, Arizona – No. 40-ranked Midwestern State shot 3-under 285 in the final round of the Palm Valley Classic on Tuesday, and the Mustangs finished tied for ninth place with Simon Fraser at 13-under 851.

Seth Bearden, Ryan Griff and Anniston McIlwain all shot 1-under 71 on the final day of the tournament, but Nathan Nelson had the lowest 54-hole total among the Mustangs on the 7,035-yard Palm Valley Golf Club course.  The sophomore from Gunter, Texas, finished in a three-way tie for 12th place at 8-under 208 after shooting even-par in the final round.

Nelson teed off from the 14th hole to begin his final round on Tuesday. He birdied the 525-yard, par-5 for the third time in the tournament and recorded his sixth consecutive birdie in the tournament after closing his second round on Monday with five straight birdies.  

Nelson finished the final round with five birdies, and he carded a total of 17 birdies during the 54-hole event, which was third most in the field of 108 golfers. 

Nelson was four strokes behind Liam Allan from Colorado School of Mines and Naoki Easterday of Chico State, who both shot 12-under 204 and tied for the lead after 54 holes.  Allan rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to claim the individual title.

Chico State ran away with the team championship, finishing 11 strokes better than Colorado State-Pueblo at 39-under 825, setting a new scoring record for the tournament. Colorado Christian previously held the record, which was set two years ago at 37-under.

CSU San Bernadino finished in third place at 25-under, and Cameron tied with Colorado Mesa at 22-under. 

Two other Lone Star Conference programs finished ahead of MSU. UT Permian Basin was seventh at 20-under, and UT Tyler was two strokes better than the Mustangs at 15-under in eighth place.

Texas A&M International was 16th in the field of 20 schools despite Elvis Steen finishing tied for third place alongside 36-hole leader Marius Dosiere of Colorado State-Pueblo. There were 52 players that finished even-par or better, including three Mustangs.

Bearden finished in a seven-way tie for 41st place at 2-under 214.  The senior from Crowell, Texas, had four birdies in his final round and had 11 birdies through 54 holes.  Bearden birdied the 540-yard, par-5 11th hole in all three rounds.

Griff tied with six other golfers for 52nd place at even-par 216. Griff had three birdies in a span of five holes during his final round and finished the event with a total of 12 birdies. He birdied holes 2, 5 and 11 twice during the tournament.

Anniston McIlwain reeled off eight straight pars at the start of his final round and finished in a six-way tie for 65th place at 2-over 218. McIlwain led the field with 42 pars over the 54-hole tournament. The sophomore from Bulverde, Texas, had three straight birdies on the back nine at Palm Valley and finished with four birdies in his final round. He had one birdie in each of his first two rounds on Monday.

Hank Germany was in a seven-way tie for 71st place after shooting 5-over 71 in his final round. Germany finished the tournament at 3-over 219. Germany was 2-under after the first two rounds on Monday and started the final round in a 10-way tie for 35th place at 2-under. The junior from Midlothian, Texas, had 15 birdies in the tournament, including four in the final round.

The Mustangs had the fifth-most birdies in the 20-team field with 61 and shot 24-under on the four par 5s. MSU was even par on the 10 par 4s but shot 19-over on the four par 3s.

Midwestern State tees it up again in the LSC Championship at Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club April 20-22.