AUBURN, Maine -- Junior Paul Detre and first-year Henry Ehrlich led the Bates men's golf team to one of their best performances in recent history, as the Bobcats sit in fourth place after one day of the NESCAC Championship, hosted by Bates Saturday at Martindale Country Club.

Action is scheduled to resume Sunday morning, weather depending.

Detre (Morristown, N.J.) shot even par on the back nine on his way to a 73, tied with Ehrlich (Portland, Ore.) and three other golfers for seventh place in the field of 50. Detre tallied six straight pars before recording a birdie on the 18th hole to end his day on a high note. Ehrlich was at even par through 15 holes before a couple of late bogeys left him tied with Detre at plus two. Both players sit just two shots out of first place. 

Junior John Kawakami (Northport, N.Y.) also had a strong day on the course, shooting a 76. Kawakami's score was good for a tie for 14th place. He tallied a pair of early birdies on holes one and four to put himself in a strong position for the remainder of the round.

As a team, the Bobcats shot 302, just one stroke behind third-place Amherst and four strokes behind second-place Tufts. They are one stroke ahead of both Williams and Trinity, and two strokes ahead of No. 47 nationally ranked Hamilton. Middlebury leads the NESCAC Championship through 18 holes with a score of 289.