TUNICA, Miss. — For the second time in the past three years and the third time overall, the
Miles golf team has captured the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. The Golden Bears took the lead in the opening round and never let it go, winning by 15 strokes over Spring Hill to win the 2026 SIAC Golf Championship presented by Toyota at Tunica National Golf Course.
The win was the fourth of the season in eight tournaments for the Golden Bears, which qualifies them for the NCAA South/Southeast Regional in Valdosta, Ga. May 7-9. After leading by just a single stroke after the opening round on Monday, Miles (+31, 895) left little doubt that it was the team to beat, sandwiching a second-round 291 with two rounds of 302 to outpace Spring Hill (910) and Morehouse (928).
After taking command of the tournament in the second round, Miles simply had to stay composed on Wednesday to bring home the title. The team did that and more behind the efforts of junior
Adrian Raya and sophomore
Zostrianos Giordani-Gross. Giordani-Gross was steady but made no birdies as he went 4-over for the round to finish at 6-over 222, good enough for second place behind individual champion Albert Laursen of LeMoyne-Owen. Raya, the 2026 SIAC Golfer of the Year, had a tough front nine but quickly found his way back with a double birdie on 10 and a birdie on 12 to begin his push towards the individual title. Bogeys on 15, 16, and 18 erased that strong run and took him out of contention for medalist honors as he also shot 4-over on the day and 7-over 223 for the tournament - good for a third-place tie.
Braydon Moye was also in the individual medalist mix coming into the final round. Moye was at even par through 10 but shot 4-over on the next five holes to fall behind the pace. He finished tied for fifth at 8-over 224. After shooting 80 in the opening round,
Jerris Baker was not a serious threat for top individual golfer but he closed with a flourish. His 1-over 73 on Wednesday was the best score among all golfers in the final round and he finished tied for 8th at 11-over 227.
Samuel Stagno played as an individual and had the best round of the tournament when he opened with a 2-under 70 on Monday. Back-to-back 79s pushed him down the leaderboard but he finished 10th (+12, 228), which gave Miles half of the top-10 in the tournament.
Malachi Greene (+19, 235) finished 17th while
George Aguilera withdrew after the second round.
FOLLOW THE SIAC
Stay connected by following the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on
Facebook,
Instagram and
X @TheSIAC.
SIAC NEWS
Sign up for SIAC News to be among the first to receive media releases, updates and more!
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.