After coming out smokin' and leading its nearest competitor by five strokes, the UNM men's golf team let its lead slip away to UNLV in the last 18 holes Saturday.
The Lobos, who hosted the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate Tournament, took second place with a combined score of 1-under par - 11 strokes behind UNLV.
UNM and UNLV made it clear in the first round of the tournament that this was to be a two-team shoot-out in the field of 16.
Both teams shot 11-under in the first round.
Seniors Steve Saunders and Parker Pemberton led the way for the Lobos in the first round, shooting 5-under and 4-under. The rest of the Lobo team followed suit, putting up numbers at or near par.
The Lobos clung to their first-round cushion throughout the tournament.
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However, sustaining that quality of golf proved difficult.
UNM tapered off in the second round, shooting a modest 1-under. They increased their lead over UNLV with the Rebels shooting a 4-over in the second round.
"(The day) was kind of bittersweet because I played really well this morning and I kind of struggled in the afternoon," Pemberton said after shooting a 5-over in round two. "But overall, this is a tough golf course, so I'm sitting at 1-over par, and I'll have another chance at it tomorrow."
But Saturday the Lobos didn't play as well.
Only two players, Saunders and Jon Sauer, managed to score par or under in the last 18 holes.
Pemberton shot 10-over; Nick Geyer shot 5-over; and James Erkenbeck shot 7-over to end the third round.
"We had a couple guys get off to rough starts," head coach Glen Millican said. "When you get off to a tough start, it's hard to recover."
The Lobos finished 11-over in the third round, completely erasing the first-round score from day one. The Lobos finished the tournament with an overall score of 863 - 1-under par.
UNLV had a better day. The team finished the day at 5-under, sealing the victory with a combined score of 852 - 12-under for the tournament.
"Obviously we would have liked to win the tournament, but in golf, it is a little different than in other sports," Millican said. "Although we did have one loss today, we had 14 wins. We beat 14 other teams, and some of them were dang good teams. So I think we did alright. I think we had a pretty good week for our team."
