HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. - Gusts of wind blew through the Links at Novadell, Tuesday, but couldn't knock Austin Peay State University men's golf team off stride. The Govs fired a final-round 285 to repeat as champion of the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate, becoming the first team to repeat as champion since the tournament moved to a three-round format.

Austin Peay (290-285-285-860) bested the field by seven strokes, building on the one-shot lead they procured after 36 holes by equaling the tournament's lowest team round.  The Govs knocked off first-round leader Lipscomb (289-289-289-867) and Ohio Valley Conference foes Belmont (290-290-292-872), Murray State (290-289-295-874) and SIU Edwardsville (290-291-294-875) to wrap up the fall tournament schedule.

"We had some solid performances again on another difficult day at Novadell," said head coach Kirk Kayden. "Our scores have been lower in the past, but we came through with a good team performance.

Junior Anthony Bradley led the Govs with a third-place, seven-under par 209 (72-69-68). The Englishman was one of three players in the 81-man field to shoot in the 60s twice in the tournament. He finished two shots behind SIU Edwardsville's Colin McCarty, who took individual medalist honors with a nine-under par 207 (69-70-68).

Bradley's back-nine 34 was the best by a Gov, Tuesday; he was the only member of Austin Peay's top group to shoot under par on the back half of the course.

"It's always windy when we come out here," Bradley said. "We're used to it, so we were able to put together a good score.

"There are expectations of us, to win our tournament. It's very important that we stepped up and did it. It gives a lot of momentum for the spring."

Defending tournament champion Marco Iten tied for seventh this time around, shooting 215 (69-73-73) to earn his seventh career top-10 finish.

Iten stayed in contention by navigating the par-3 No. 5, saving par in each round on the 248-yard behemoth. The field averaged nearly a stroke above par on that hole for the tournament.

No. 6, a 472-yard par four, played nearly as difficult, with the field averaging 4.78 strokes per attempt on the hole. Buoyed by Iten's first-round birdie (one of only five in the tournament on No. 6), the Govs shot an average of 4.33 on No. 6 and made par or better on 12 of 15 attempts.

Redshirt freshman Korey Smith fired a final-round 71 to sneak up for an 11th-place tie (74-72-71). He had three birdies to close out the front nine with a 35, and was one of four Govs to shoot below par on the front nine Tuesday.

After struggling to a first-round 76, senior Dustin Korte ended his tournament with back-to-back 73's to finish tied for 27th (76-73-73-222). Freshman Austin Kramer rounded out the top scores, with his final-round 78 giving him a 224 (75-71-78) for the tournament.

Playing for the Govs second group - which finished in a tie for sixth in the tournament - freshman Chris Baker's final-round 67 was the best individual round in the tournament, and earned him a tie for ninth (73-76-67-216), moving up the leaderboard from his 36th-place tie after two rounds. The Govs "B" team was 13th entering Tuesday play and finished ahead of OVC foes Tennessee Tech, Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Tennessee State and Morehead State in the final standings.

"It's nice to see some of the guys from the other team stepping up," Kayden said. "Chris Baker had a great round today. That will just push the other guys to get better when we start back in the spring."

This tournament wraps up the fall season for the Govs, who finished the fall schedule with two victories in the last three tournaments. It was the second straight year the Govs captured two fall tourney titles.

-AP-