Savannah, Ga. – Junior Louis Theys posted the second-best 54-hole score of his career with a 212 (69-71-72) in tallying a career-best finish on Sunday afternoon, coming home as the tournament's runner-up to guide Western Carolina to a second-place team finish at The Invitational at Savannah Harbor.
 
Theys was one of two Catamounts to record a Top 10 finish as sophomore Pierre Viallaneix rallied into a ninth-place tie with a two-day score of 218 (73-71-74).
 
WCU fired a three-round finished score of 873 (290-286-297) to finish second behind fellow Southern Conference foe, Mercer, which won the 16-team event with a 3-under par 861. Florida A&M was third, three strokes in arrears of the Catamounts at 876 with Belmont (878) and Wright State (880) rounding out the top five teams.
 
Tied for second-place as the second round was concluded on Sunday morning after darkness chased golfers from the course on Saturday, Theys shot even-par 72 over the final 18 holes to finish three strokes off the pace. The Villers-Perwin, Belgium, native carded three of his team-best 12 birdies on Sunday, finishing tied for the fourth-most in the tournament field. His first-round score of 69 marked his second in the 60s this season. Mercer's Tyler Copp claimed medalist honors with a three-round score of 209 (70-68-71).
 
Opening on the par-3 15th, Theys was even through the first six holes of his day before a bogey on the par-3 third. He quickly returned to even-par, though, with a birdie on the par-5 fourth. Theys dropped to 1-under once over the final 18 holes with a birdie on the par-3 eighth. However, it was followed with back-to-back bogeys on the ninth and 10th before moving back even on the par-5 11th.
 
Viallaneix climbed six spots over the final round, moving from a 15th-place tie to record his second Top 10 of the season in a four-way tie for ninth. Viallaneix scored par on 37 of his 54 holes over the two-day tourney to lead the Catamounts, adding eight birdies.
 
Sophomore Magnus Pedersen was WCU's biggest gainer on the day, advancing 11 positions from at 24th-place tie into a five-way tie for 13th at the close of the tournament. The Moss, Norway product was a picture of consistency, carding 1-over par 73 in each round. On Sunday, Pedersen was 2-under par with 10 holes to play after consecutive birdies on the first and second holes. He was looking at a 2-over round until birdieing his final hole of the tournament, the par-4 14th to shoot 73.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were junior Tumi Kúld in a tie for 31st after shooting 224 (75-71-78) and freshman Presten Richardson in a tie for 59th at 229 (75-73-81). Kúld carded nine birdies including six in the second round alone while Richardson had five birdies.
 
Western Carolina returns to action March 4-6 at the Sea Palms Invitational on St. Simons Island, Ga., a three-day, 54-hole event the Catamounts will host at the resort that lends its name to the tournament.
 
2 – Western Carolina – 290-286-300 = 873
2 – Louis Theys – 69-71-72 = 212 (-4)
T9 – Pierre Viallaneix – 73-71-74 = 218 (+2)
T13 – Magnus Pedersen – 73-73-73 = 219 (+3)
T31 – Tumi Kuld – 75-71-78 = 224 (+8)
T59 – Presten Richardson – 75-73-81 = 229 (+13)