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FRESNO, Calif. — Senior Gabriel Smith led the Sacramento State men’s golf team with a 3-over par round of 74 during the final round of the Nick Watney Invitational at San Joaquin CC on Tuesday. The Hornets tied for seventh place in the 14-team tournament after shooting 295-283-300-876.
 
Smith was 1-under par through his first nine holes of the third round as he began his day with a par on No. 5, added birdies on Nos. 6, 12 and 13 and double bogeyed the par-3 seventh. A bogey on No. 15 returned him to even before he birdied the par-5 18th and par-4 first to get to 2-under. Smith, however, played his final three holes at 5-over. He tied for 18th in the tournament at 74-70-74-218.
 
Zach Mate, who was competing as an individual, had the highest overall finish on the team, tying for 16th place at 4-over. Mate shot 77 on Tuesday with a birdie, five bogeys and a double bogey.
 
Max Thomas joined Smith with a tie for 18th. Thomas had to overcome a quadruple bogey on his third hole of the day to shoot 5-over. He had one birdie and two bogeys over his final 15 holes.
 
Jai Bahl and Zach Matzke each shot 75 during the final round. Bahl had a birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey during the round but finished with his second-lowest 54-hole total of his collegiate career (74-70-75-219) to tie for 22nd. Matzke had a birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey on Tuesday to move up three spots in the final standings.
 
Mason Benbrook completed the lineup with a 76. Benbrook had a birdie, four bogeys and a double bogey.
 
Nevada pulled away from the field to win the team title by seven strokes. The Wolf Pack were even as a team and were followed by Pacific (7-over), UC San Diego (10-over), Fresno State (14-over) and California Baptist (20-over) in the top five. The individual medalist was split between SeattleU’s Kevin Li, Nevada’s Riki Matsumoto and UC San Diego’s Davis McDowell who each were 4-under.
 
Sacramento State will compete for the third-consecutive week as the team plays at the Bandon Dunes Championship on March 8-10.
 
NICK WATNEY INVITATIONAL
Fresno, Calif. | San Joaqiun CC
Par 71 | 7,051 Yards
 
Team Standings
1.  Nevada 287-285-280-852
2. Pacific 291-284-284-859
3. UC San Diego 288-281-203-862
4. Fresno State 291-287-288-866
5. California Baptist 292-287-203-872
6. CSUN 288-291-294-873
T7. Sacramento State 295-283-300-876
T7. SeattleU 297-286-293-876
9. UC Riverside 289-291-298-878
10. Idaho 297-296-290-883
11. Cal State Fullerton 298-293-295-886
12. Utah Valley 303-292-300-895
13. Southern Utah 307-298-295-900
14. Utah State 308-297-298-903
 
Individual Top Five
T1. Davis McDowell, UCSD, 69-68-72-209
T1. Kevin Li, SU, 71-70-68-209
T1. Riki Matsumoto, NEV, 72-68-69-209
T5. Deitrek Gill, UOP, 70-72-70-212
T5. Bryson Barnes, CSUN, 72-69-72-213
T5. Jared Abercrombie, CBU, 70-73-70-213
 
Sacramento State Scores
T16. Zach Mate 72-68-77-217*
T18. Gabriel Smith 74-70-74-218
T18. Max Thomas 74-68-76-218
T22. Jai Bahl 74-70-75-219
59. Mason Benbrook 73-78-76-217
T73. Zach Matzke 87-73-75-235
* Competing as an individual