JASPER, Ind. -- Coach Jim Hamilton expects a lot from his University of Evansville men's golf team this season, and his players are responding.  The Purple Aces climbed from fifth place to first in the final 18 holes today at Sultan's Run Golf Course to win the 15-team Ball State Cardinal Collegiate by two shots over runnerup Bowling Green, 889-891.

It was Evansville's first team title since the 2008 squad won the Butler Invitational.

Sophomore Andrew Luo led Evansville's move up the standings today.  His 3-under-par 69 was the best round of the day among the 84 players in the tournament.  Luo and teammates Michael Sainz (72), Griffin Wood (74) and Christian Poling (75) combined to give UE a team score of 290 in the final round, five shots better than any of the other 14 teams.

Sainz finished in a fourth place tie overall at 4-over-par 220.  Wood tied for ninth at 222, and Luo came in 14th at 223.  Matt Schneider of Bowling Green was tournament medalist with three consecutive rounds of 71 for a 54-hole total of 3-under-par 213.

"I do have high expectations for our guys this year, mainly because the players themselves have high expectations," Hamilton said.  "We were rained out in the first round at Butler last week, and the first thing they asked was, 'Where can we find a place to play? Where can we go hit balls?'  They want to improve their games, and this is a nice reward for their hard work."

Added Sainz, "We're all pretty close as a team, and this shows the depth we have on the team.  Any of us can go low.  No doubt today gave us a lot of confidence because there were some good teams in the tournament." 

TEAM SCORES: 1. Evansville 889; 2. Bowling Green 891; 3. Eastern Kentucky 893; 4. Detroit Mercy 899; 5. DePaul 903; 6. Marshall 907; 7. Youngstown State 912; 8. Ball State 913; 9. Wright State 914; 10. Cincinnati 920; 11. Cleveland State 923; 12. IPFW 924; 13. Oakland 932; 14. Valparaiso 951; 15. IUPUI 1011.

UE SCORES: T4. Michael Sainz 76-72-72=220; T9. Griffin Wood 73-75-74=222; T14. Andrew Luo 75-79-69=223; T37. Christian Poling 81-74-75=230; T44. Tim Simmons 77-77-79=233; *T58. Neal Millay 87-74-77=238.  *played as an individual