DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman freshmen Ryan Fricker and Leon Fricker each fired a 69 to lead the tournament field during the first round of the 27th Annual PGA National Minority Golf Championships presented by Brown Capital Management at The PGA Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The Bethune-Cookman men's team finished the opening day shooting a 283 to lead the tournament field 10 strokes ahead of Savannah State (293) who sits in second place as a team. Also tied among the individual tournament field leaders is Savannah State's Travis Roe with a 69 scorecard through the first 18 holes.

Leon Fricker, brother of Ryan and a native of Ivybridge, England, matched his season-low round of 69 from two previous tournaments this season – both occurring on the opening 18 holes. Meanwhile, Ryan Fricker carded his ninth under-par round of the campaign, just two strokes off his season-low in that department.

Also firing well for the Wildcats through the first 18 holes was junior Matthew McKnight with a 72, followed by classmate Emmanuel Petrich with a 73.

B-CU senior Alex Clapp tallied a 77 in the opening round.

JaMichael Jones, a junior from Chicago, is competing in the Independent Division and carded a round of 77 through the opening day.

In third place for the tournament is Texas-Pan American (294), followed by Tennessee State (297) and Alabama State (301).

Play resumes for the second of the three-round event Saturday back at The PGA Club beginning at 9 a.m.

For information and results on the 27th PGA National Minority Golf Championship, please log on to PGAtournaments.com.

For news and results on the B-CU men's golf team, log on to BCUathletics.com and follow the team (@BCUgolf) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with the hashtag, #bcugolf. Make sure to “Like Us” on Facebook at Bethune-Cookman Athletics.

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