BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Lightning strikes and rain midway through Tuesday's third round forced officials to halt the Samford Invitational, making the second round results final and leaving Tennessee Tech tied for 12th place in the 18-team tournament that kicked off the team's spring schedule.

Greg Kitts (in photo) and Tyler Cassetty tied for the team lead, both finishing in 24th place with identical scores of 149. Kitts followed his first-round 75 with a one-shot improvement and a 74, while Cassetty did just the opposite, carding a 74 Monday and a 75 in the second round.

One shot back, in a tie for 32nd place, Mason Griffin showed the biggest climb for the Golden Eagles. After a first-round 79, Griffin came back with a 71 for his 36-hole total of 150. Sam Schrock (80-82--162) was tied for 82nd place while Lee Maxweel (77-93--170) never got the chance to recover from a tough second round showing and finished in 90th place.

The Golden Eagles did improve three strokes with rounds of 305 and 302, tying with Houston Baptist for 12th place. Tech was third among four Ohio Valley Conference teams in the tournament. Eastern Kentucky was the highest-finishing OVC school in seventh place, followed by Murray State in ninth. The Golden Eagles were five shots ahead of UT Martin, which placed 15th.

Central Arkansas coasted to the team title with a 562 total, 18 strokes ahead of the Alabama JV squad (580) in second place. Illinois State (588), Winthrop (591) and Belmont (593) rounded out the Top Five places.

Tech's next event comes Monday and Tuesday at the Grover Page Classic, hosted by UT Martin.