Coming off its best placement of the season — a second-place finish at the Matthews Auto Collegiate Invitational, the Binghamton golf team placed eighth out of 13 total teams at the Lehigh Invitational, concluding the weekend with a score of 610/34 over par.

“We didn’t really play consistent for both rounds,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “We really prepared for the event. I thought the guys were ready and we were — we just didn’t perform at the abilities we should’ve.”

BU finished day one in fifth place with a total score of 300/12 over par, led by fifth-year Evan Sitts. The Bearcats finished day one tied for first place with a score of 68/4 under par. In addition, sophomore Harrison Blech and junior Ryan Millevoi — both playing as individuals — rounded out BU’s top three scorers for day one by tying for 15th, both shooting 74/2 over par.

“[Sitts] played awesome,” Herceg said. “All year for us he’s really been consistent … he’s our senior, he’s our captain and he’s really been a great leader for our team.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Sean Shen finished day one in 28th place shooting four over par for a score of 76. Sophomore Brandon Conner and junior Shawn Colella finished in tied 45th place, each shooting 78/6 over par. Rounding out BU’s results on day one was junior Tynan Jones, shooting 85/13 over par for 76th place.

“Going into day two … [we wanted to] try to be making pars and throw a few birdies in there,” Herceg said. “We didn’t play our best the first day, and we were only seven shots back … if we could put things together we’d make a run for it.”

On day two, Sitts — who held first place through 27 holes of the tournament — cooled off in the final nine holes. He concluded the second round by shooting six over par. Though Sitts lost his first-place position, he earned a career-best score of 146/2 over par, ultimately finishing tied for fifth individually. Shen continued his own momentum on day two, scoring an eagle on hole 10 and ending the round 75/3 over par. Shen finished the tournament climbing eight spots to tie for 20th place shooting 151/7 over par.

“[Shen] put himself right back in a good position to finish strong for us … [the last two holes] the greens were tough and he made some good five-footers to post a good round,” Herceg said. “It helped us definitely, he played solid for us all week.”

Rounding out the Bearcat’s scores were Conner and Blech, who both played very consistently across both days. After shooting a 78 the first day, Conner followed by shooting a 77 the second day, ending his tournament tied for 38th with a 155/11 over par. Blech succeeded his two-over-par performance by shooting four over par, finishing tied for 17th with a 150/6 over par. Other Bearcats include Millevoi, who fell 14 spots in day two, ending his tournament tied for 29th. Colella finished tied for 52nd shooting 158/14 over par and Jones ended his tournament in 77th place.

Lehigh won the tournament with a final score of 587/11 over par. Rounding out the top three were Siena and Towson who shot 596/20 over par and 600/24 over par, respectively. Binghamton slipped back in the standings from fifth to eighth, shooting 10 strokes higher than day one for a final score of 610/34 over par.

“[The Veterans Intercollegiate Invitational is] down in Long Island,” Herceg said. “It’s right off the water, I know it’s going to be cool, it’s going to be breezy and windy … we’ll be focusing to keep our short game as sharp as we can. We’ll work on flighted shots that you need to play in windy conditions … hopefully, we put it together and finish strong in our last tournament.”

Binghamton will compete again next week at the Veteran’s Intercollegiate Invitational beginning on Monday, Oct. 30 and concluding on Tuesday, Oct. 31. Tee times are scheduled for 8 a.m. at the Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York.