Valley golfer in top 30 at NAIA Championship

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- Heading into the final day of the NAIA Championships, Missouri Valley College golfer Raphael Marguery was in good shape.

The sophomore from suburban Paris, France, was tied for seventh place, coming off his best round of the tournament -- a three-under par 69 on the Indiana National Golf Club course. But on Friday, he hit a stretch from which he could not recover.

After parring the first three holes, starting at No. 10, Marguery double-bogeyed the par-five 13th. A bogey on 17 had him turning the corner at three over. Three straight pars were followed by four bogeys in a row and then a double, finishing the round and meet at nine over -- tied for 28th place.

Marguery got off to a good start Tuesday, three birdies off-setting a bogey and double for a one-under 71, putting him into a share of fifth place. However, on Wednesday he had seven bogeys only balanced by three birdies to fall back into the pack with a four-over 76.

Thursday's tour was only one stroke off the tournament's best score for the day. Marguery was at one over for the round at the turn, but had four birdies during a five-hole span on the back side to come in at three-under 69.

Even with Friday's swoon, Marguery -- the first Viking to ever qualify for nationals --still had the best score among the individual qualifiers who were not members of one of the 28 teams invited.

Junior Sam Cyr of Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) fired an eight-under 280 to become the third Sea Lion to claim the NAIA title, winning by five strokes. The University of British Columbia, ranked third, led from the second day on to take the team trophy by 12 strokes with a four-over-par 1156.

Heart of America Conference champion Lindenwood was the top team to miss the cut after three rounds, scoring a 914.