Eagles, Riverhawks finish 4-5 in Las Vegas Desert Invitational

Photo: Andres Brictson shot a career-best 6-under 66 in the Las Vegas Desert Invitational.

LAS VEGAS (March 5, 2019) – Paced by a sizzling round from Andres Brictson, No. 9-ranked Oklahoma Christian jumped two spots on the final day of the Las Vegas Desert Invitational to finish fourth Tuesday at Royal Links Golf Club’s Links Replica Course. Northeastern State also moved up from sixth to tie for fifth and Central Oklahoma finished 10th.

Brictson, a sophomore from Merida, Mexico, shot a career-best 6-under-par 66 on the 6,962-yard course to tie for sixth individually – his highest collegiate finish – in the 83-man tournament at 4-under 212. He recorded five birdies and an eagle on the par-4 No. 13 against only one bogey while zooming up the leaderboard. It was Brictson’s second career top-10 finish, with both coming this spring season.

The Eagles posted a team score of 294 (6-over) in the final round, good enough to rise from sixth to fourth in a power-packed 15-team field. OC’s three-day score of 879 trailed No. 3 West Florida (839), tournament host Missouri-St. Louis (852) and No. 10-ranked St. Mary’s (Texas) (863).

The Eagles, who posted a top-five team finish for the seventh time in as many tournaments in 2018-19, ended two shots ahead of Northeastern State and Texas-Tyler, three shots ahead of Redlands (Calif.) and four shots ahead of Hawaii Pacific. No. 22-ranked Wingate (N.C.) finished 11th at 890.

OC’s other top-20 finisher was junior Trevor Norby of Carlsbad, Calif. Norby had four birdies en route to a final-round 75 that put him in a tie for 18th. OC senior Garrett White (77) tied for 23rd at 221, while senior Juan Pallach (76) tied for 49th at 226 and senior Cameron Brown (77) placed 64th at 232.

Two OC seniors played the tournament as individuals. Ethan Smith posted a 1-under 71 and tied for 42nd at 225, while Grady Neal’s 74 left him at 229, tied for 58th.

The Eagles will return to action on March 18-19 in the Central Oklahoma Invitational at Oak Tree Country Club’s East Course in Edmond.

Tahlequah’s Jax Johnson led the RiverHawks with his first career top-10 individual finish. The NSU freshman fired off a 1-under 71 and finished tied for ninth overall with a 215 (76-68-71).  Johnson tied with five others, including the number-two ranked player in the nation.

Northeastern State climbed as high as fourth on the leaderboard before finishing tied for fifth on an 811 (301-287-293) for a three-round total.

Tuesday’s finish is the RiverHawks third top-five in the season and they placed ahead of four teams in the top-45 on GolfStat.com.