DAKOTA DUNES, SD – Montana State-Billings golfer Nicholas Larson used a 2-over par round of 74 Tuesday to move up 11 spots at the NCAA West Regional.  The freshman from Riverton, Wyo., bounced back from Monday's 12-over 84, using five birdies to cut ten strokes off is first round total.

Larson was 2-under on the front nine that caused him trouble on Monday.  He birdied Nos. 3, 4, 7, and 9 and recorded three pars and two bogeys.  His birdie on the par-4 ninth hole was a three stroke swing from Monday's double bogey. 

The back nine saw Larson lose four strokes as he carded five bogeys, three pars and a birdie.  Yet he still played more consistently than he did in the opening round, eliminating the two double bogeys and one triple that plagued him Monday.

With Tuesday's solid play, Larson moved from 33^rd to 22^nd place in the individual standings.  Monday's leader, Andy Moren of Cal State-Stanislaus, shot a 1-under 71 to hold onto a share of the lead Tuesday.  Western Washington's Tim Feenstra made the big move of the day, going 5-under for the round to pull into a tie with Moren at 1-under for 36 holes.  Feenstra's performance helped catapult the Vikings into a 17-stroke lead over Chico State in the team standings.

The regional wraps up on Wednesday at the Dakota Dunes Country Club.  The top two teams advance to the national tournament along with the top individual not from one of those two teams.