Rebels’ even-par round gives them 5-shot lead

Wednesday, April 29, 1998 | 9:09 a.m.

The top-ranked UNLV men's golf team shot an even-par second-round 288 to increase its lead Tuesday in the Western Athletic Conference Championship at Livermore, Calif.

After 36 holes of play, UNLV is in first place, five shots ahead of second-place Texas Christian. New Mexico and Brigham Young are tied for third, while Colorado State is in fifth.

"We are happy with the position we are in because of the experience we have gathered being in the same position during the year," UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said. "This is the 11th time going into the final round that we have had a chance to win. We feel that to be in contention at the NCAA Tournament on our tough days, we need to be around 292 and since we shot a 288 today we are pleased. We did struggle a little bit, but our consistency with the five players was good."

SMU's Hank Kuehne (70-65--135, nine-under par) and Fresno State's Ryan King (70-65--135) are tied for the individual lead. The two golfers set WAC Championship marks for the lowest round under par with seven-under 65s and lowest 36-hole totals at 135. Bill Lunde (68-71--139) leads the Rebels and is in fifth place.

In other UNLV news:

The women's and men's swimming teams were awarded Academic All-America accolades from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. To qualify for the honor, the grade point average of the team must average at least 2.80 on a 4.00 scale. The women team's average GPA ranked second and the men ranked 25th in the nation among NCAA Division 1-A schools.

MLB to Schott: Sell Reds

Major league baseball is trying to persuade Marge Schott to sell the Cincinnati Reds before her suspension from daily operation of the club ends Nov. 1, the Cincinnati Post reported today. If Schott does not put the Reds up for sale before then, baseball will consider extending her suspension by citing her alleged improper business practices as an auto dealer, according to the Post. Schott was reported to have misused team employees' names in sales records at an auto dealership she formerly owned. The newspaper attributed its report to unidentified sources with the Reds and baseball.