STOCKTON, Calif.— A late round rally kept the Colorado Mesa University men's golf team in contention for a spot in the national tournament as the Mavericks finished Friday's second round of the NCAA Division II South Central/West Regional with a team score of 290 (+2) and in seventh place with a 36-hole total of 577 (+1) here at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
 
The Mavericks are just two shots behind where they need to be for one of the region's six available spots in the NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
Two individuals not on those six teams will also qualify.
 
Cal State East Bay and Cameron are tied for fifth in the team standings at 575 (-1) as the top four teams have separated themselves from the rest of the field.
 
Western Washington and West Texas A&M are tied for the lead at 565 (-11) while Cal State San Bernardino is third just a shot back at 566 (-10).  Chico State is in fourth at 568 (-9) after posting the best team score of the day, a 275 (-13).
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are one shot ahead of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado Christian and Dallas Baptist University, just two up on Simon Fraser, three up on Hawai'i-Hilo and four up on CSU Pueblo and Cal State San Marcos, who are tied for 12^th at 581 (+5) in the tight standings.

The Mavericks had come into Friday's round in a 4-way tie for sixth but slipped back to 13^th during the round as the five Mavs played the front-9 holes in a combined 13 shots over par.
 
However, the Mavs bounced back on the back side of the 7,082-yar, par-72 course making 12 combined birdies while getting an eagle from freshman Henry Starr to move back up the leaderboard.
 
Luke Wagstaff made two brides on a clean back side card and finished with his second straight round of 1-under par 71.  He is in a tie for 19^th in the individual standings at 142 (-2) and leads the CMU contingent.
 
Leo Lavalle also made two birdies on the back side and finished with three overall to match Wagstaff's 71.  He is in a tie for 30^th in the individual standings at even par (144).
 
Meanwhile, Dylan Everett and Starr both finished with rounds of 74 on Friday.  Everett is now tied for 47^th at 146 (+2) while Starr is in a tie for 59^th at 148 (+4), alongside Maverick senior Timmy Cavarno, who signed for a wild 77 on Friday.
 
Saturday's third and final round will begin at 7:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. Mountain).  The Mavericks will begin at 11 a.m. (Noon Mountain).