HEMET, Calif. --- After yesterday's round one at the CA State Intercollegiate, Biola Men's Golf Coach Max Allen said his team was pumped to come out and make ground in the standings.
 
That came to fruition in a big way on Tuesday as two different players dropped at least 14 strokes and the Eagles came away with their second-lowest team score ever.
 
Biola combined for a 292 on the second day at Diamond Valley Golf Course, which was powered by four of its five golfers dropping their first round scores considerably. The 292 was good enough to move BU out of 10^th place and into a final resting spot of ninth place in the tournament field. The two-round total of 616 (+40) gave the Eagles a five-stroke advantage over Pomona-Pitzer.
 
"Considering the conditions, this was one of the best rounds a Biola golf team has posted," said Allen. "The guys were soaking wet and the wind picked up later in the round. The guys got off to a good start though and never slowed down."
 
The final round was just four over par and was second only to the team champion, Arizona Christian. The Firestorm shot a round two 286 to follow up yesterday's leading score of 287.
 
The low score was keyed by three eagles. Kyle McAbee put a ball near the pin on a par four and made a putt, Dominic Ariondo chipped one in from 84 yards out on a par four and Samuel Shih closed out a putt close to the pin on a par-5 to help lower scores dramatically.
 
Shih and Austin Bishop stole the show during this second day of competition with huge drops from their first day scoring. Shih dropped from an 85 to a 71, which was just one stroke off the best round on the course on another day with less than desirable weather conditions. Bishop looked a whole lot more like the freshman phenom we saw last year as he rebounded from a round one 89 with a 72 on day two.
 
Ariondo (79-75) and Ben Crumley (86-83) also dropped strokes during the second day. McAbee, who was the Eagles' highest finisher on the individual leaderboard, was a model of consistency as he followed his round one 74 with the same score during Tuesday's competition.
 
McAbee finished tied for 15^th, Ariondo impressed with two rounds sub-80 and ended up tied for 32^nd and Shih also finished inside of the top-40 in the sizable field with his +12 landing him in 37^th overall.
 
"I am proud of the guys, and it reveals their mentality to come out after a bad first round and beat these caliber teams in the second round," said Allen. "Sure, we only moved up one spot, but knowing we have beaten these guys and listening to the guys after the round discussing how they could have done just a little better show how determined they are."
 
The course played just a tiny bit easier on day one than it did on day two, with the field averaging a 76.16 after a 77.07 on Monday. However, that minor shift does not begin to account for the major dip in scores from Allen's team on the second day. The Eagles' improvement is surely a sign of the talent and determination this team should display the rest of this season.
 
"Today we discussed having a calculated aggressiveness," said Allen. "If the reward was slightly greater than the risk we took it. The conditions got the best of some competitors, but it only fueled us knowing we could handle the discomfort of slow play and soaking clothes."