SUNRIVER -- After Friday's six-under-par second round, BYU moved alone into second place just four strokes behind New Mexico at the Mountain West Conference Golf Championship at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.
The Cougar's second round 282 (-6) was the lowest team total of the tournament and helped No. 13 BYU move closer to fourth-ranked Lobos and distance itself from
After two rounds of windy cold weather BYU and New Mexico are they are the only teams under par.
"Six under is a great, great score under these conditions and on this golf course," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "I'm really proud of how our guys played. They were mentally tough and fought through some missed putts."
One Cougar who wasn't missing many putts was Sophomore Nick Becker. Becker who sunk four putts over thirty feet on the day moved into second place individually after going three-under (69) on the day.
"Every time we've won the conference championship we've had a break out performance form one of our guys," Brockbank said. "Nick is doing that this year for us. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a couple of other guys to step up big as well."
At four-under-par for the tournament, he trails No. 2-ranked Spencer Levin of New Mexico by one stroke heading into tomorrow's final round. Becker got particularly hot during the final nine holes where he had five birdies and one bogie.
"I'm just putting really well and hitting a lot of greens and fairways," said Becker. "On No. 3 I hit a 35-foot putt over a mound with a six-foot break. That hole gave me a lot of confidence."
BYU had two other golfers finish the day in the top 10. Senior Ron Harvey was again solid as he went even par and remains in a tie for third place. Harvey had one birdie and one bogie while paring the rest of his holes. Sophomore Jake Ellison moved up from 16th place into ninth place with a second round 71 (-1). Ellison's missed a two-foot putt for a double bogie on No. 4, but also had four birdies during Friday's round.
Oscar Alvarez bounced back from a tough day Thursday to go two-under (70) on Friday. Alvarez, who has the team's lowest stroke average, was a few putts away from a brilliant day as he moved up from 24th to 14th place.
Brockbank was optimistic about his team's chance of overcoming New Mexico in Saturday's final round.
"We're about ready to bust out and make some putts," Brockbank said. " There is something special about this team. I hope we're jumping up and down tomorrow."
Final round action will begin Saturday morning as the Cougars tee off around 10 a.m. Follow the Cougars live on the internet at: www.golfstatresults.com as they hope to claim their 23rd conference championship.
TEAM SCORES
1. New Mexico 285-285--570 (-6)
2. Brigham Young 292-282--574 (-2)
3. UNLV 294-287--581 (+5)
4. San Diego State 292-293--585 (+9)
5. Colorado State 297-292--589 (+13)
6. Utah 300-296--596 (+20)
7. Wyoming 300-311--611 (+35)
8. Air Force 312-302--614 (+38)
BYU INDIVIDUALS
2. Nick Becker 71-69--140 (-4)
T3. Ron Harvey Jr. 71-72--143 (-1)
T9. Jake Ellison 74-71--145 (+1)
T14. Oscar Alvarez 76-70--146 (+2)
T29. Greg Machtaler 77-76--153 (+9)
complete stats at www.golfstat.com