CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The University of North Florida golf team will need to put together one of its biggest rallies of the year Saturday to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship.

UNF improved upon its opening round score at the NCAA East Regional by five strokes, shooting a 4-over-par 293 on the par 71 layout of Council Fire Golf Club. The Ospreys moved up one spot in the team standings and are tied for 23^rd with South Carolina with one round to play. More importantly, UNF is nine strokes out of a top 10 spot in the regional, which would guarantee the team a trip to the NCAA Championship in Lafayette, Ind.

Jordan Gibb fired UNF’s first round under par of the regional, shooting a 70 on Friday in a round that included a pair of birdies and only one bogey. Gibb opened his day with nine-straight pars on the his front nine before birdying back-to-back holes on his back nine to go to 2-under-par for the day. He gave one of those strokes back with a bogey on his 16^th hole before finishing the round out with a pair of pars.

J.C. Horne is UNF’s highest ranked individual at the regional. He is tied for 70^th after shooting a 73 Friday.

Chris Kennedy (71), Jeff Dennis (74) and Michael O’Neal (77) finished out the scoring for the Ospreys, which will take back to the course on Saturday morning.

No, 1 ranked Georgia continued to expand its lead, firing a round of 13-under-par on Friday to take a 19-stroke advantage over Augusta State heading into the final round. UAB’s Zach Suchar took over the individual lead and stands 11-under-par for the tournament after shooting a 62 in his second round.