BRASELTON, Ga.  (April 23, 2008) - ETSU senior Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) and freshman Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) battled at the top of the individual leaderboard and ultimately finished first and second, respectively, but those exceptional efforts were not enough to lift the Buccaneers' men's golf team to their second straight team championship Wednesday in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships at Chateau Elan's Woodlands Course.

            While Shaw held the top spot on the leaderboard after the second round and ultimately posted a 210 (69-67-74) for the tournament - one shot better than Enoch (211) - the 20^th-ranked Bucs were unable to hold on to the one stroke edge they hold at the end of the second round. North Florida ultimately finished with the one stroke advantage to win the team title.

"North Florida has a good team and are ranked 47^th in the nation," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "When you have guys finish one and two that's usually enough of a boost to win, but unfortunately, we lacked the consistency from top to bottom that we needed. North Florida was just a little more consistent. We'll go back and let the team finish class, let Gareth and Cian (McNamara) graduate, and begin preparing for regionals."

By virtue of their high national ranking, the Bucs are all but assured to receive a bid to the NCAA Regionals, but Shaw said it was still disappointing not to win the team title and pick up the conference's automatic bid to the NCAAS.

            "I guess the best way to describe it is bittersweet," said Shaw, who made it two in a row for the Bucs by joining teammate and 2007 individual champion Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland). "I'm obviously pleased with the way I played and happy to win individually, but every single one of us on the team knows we could have improved out there by one shot today. It was nice to be in contention once again, but disappointing not to win."

            Enoch said it was fun trying to chase down his teammate on the leaderboard.

            "(Gareth) had a four shot lead and I was playing in front of him so I could see he had been cruising all day long," Enoch said. "But I found out it was tight late in the day and that's always fun to be in contention. Now we're just looking forward to the next step. We want to get to regionals, get past that step and put on a good show in nationals."

            Other ETSU results from the tournament included a tie for 17^th by McNamara, while Power and junior Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh, Scotland) finished 26^th and tied for 39^th, respectively.

            The Bucs will now wait to learn their regional fate in just the next few weeks. Fans can visit ETSUBucs.com on a regular basis to learn of where the Bucs will play next. Regional play is scheduled to begin May 15.