APALACHIN, N.Y. – A final round surge Monday vaulted the St. Bonaventure golf team to a third-place finish in the Matthews Auto Invitational held over two days on the Links at Hiwatha Landing.

The Bonnies posted the best round of the day Monday at 7-under par 281 to jump two spots from the start of the final 18 to place third in the field of 13 teams. St. Bonaventure was just three shots back of champion Iona and one stroke off the pace of host Binghamton. Fourth-place Lehigh (570) and fifth-place Le Moyne (571) were the only two other teams to wrap the 36-hole tournament under par. In all, SBU finished the tournament at 12-under par as a team.

At the front of the charge for the Bonnies were two of their seniors, Gabe Williams and Michael Bucko.

Williams put together a sparkling round of 5-under 67 on Monday, just one off his career best set in last year's Murray Cup.

The fourth-year Bonnie finished Sunday's opening round with an eagle on the par-5 18^th and continued the momentum into Monday. He started the final stanza with a birdie on the par-4 first and drained four more birdies to go out in 31. He was 6-under for the day until the 16th when back-to-back bogeys become the only blemishes on his score card, but he rebounded by making birdie on the last to place third on the leaderboard out of 84 players.

Williams combined his final round 67 with an opening 18 of 72 for a 139 total, four shots off medalist Sahir Balyan of Iona. Binghamton's Brandon Conner was second at 137.

Bucko also turned in a strong showing in his home tournament. On Sunday, he fired a round of 4-under 68, highlighted by seven birdies. The next day, he played the 7,104-yard layout in even par to place in a tie for fourth along with Le Moyne's Anthony Maglisco, just one shot back of Williams.

Sophomore Braddock Damore gave the Bonnies a third top-10 finisher as he tied for sixth on the individual leaderboard.

Damore had his best tournament of the fall thus far as he finished in red numbers both days. On Sunday, he surged up the leaderboard by carding four straight birdies on the back nine on the way to a 2-under total of 70. In the final round, he played the back in 2-under 34 to finish at 71 and 3-under par for the tourney.

Freshman Colin Barber continued his steady play in his debut season as well, tying for 23rd on the leaderboard. He shot 73 on Sunday, followed by even par 72 in the finale.

Playing as individuals, freshman Tyler Berkman (75-69/144) posted a top-20 finish led by his career-best round of 69 on Monday. Sophomore Nick Cecchini also racked up a career-low round of 72 which came after 73 on opening day.

Also in the lineup for the Bonnies was senior Caleb Decker (78-71/149) who played the final round under par.

Playing as individuals, Vinny Liguori (76-77/153) and Dante Bertoni (79-79/158) also teed it up for the Bonnies.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK DAMORE
"We finished strong today, shooting 7-under in the final round to make a move up the leaderboard. Senior captain Gabe Williams showed the way with his 67. Having three players in the top-10 was a great thing to see. The freshmen really played well as Tyler and Colin were strong and sophomore Nick Cecchini as well – all three of those guys recorded top-23 finishes."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies are quickly back in action as the play in the Bucknell Invitational Sunday and Monday at Bucknell Golf Club in Lewisburg, Pa.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Iona – 561
2. Binghamton – 563
3. St. Bonaventure – 564
4. Lehigh – 570
5. Le Moyne – 571
T6. Niagara – 588
T6. Colgate – 588
8. Dartmouth – 590
9. Cornell – 591
10. Laval – 594
11. Canisius – 595
12. Saint Peter's – 600
13. Ottawa – 678

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