STEVINSON, Calif. -- A rough start to Tuesday's third and final round kept the Buffs from making a run at the team title at their own Stevinson Ranch Invitational.

The Buffs finished in third place with an 886 total score. New Mexico State (872) leap-frogged St. Mary's (880) on the final day to win the tournament.

CU struggled early Tuesday, with its five scorers going a collective 8-over par on the first four holes.

Sophomore Luke Symons led the way for the Buffs with a second straight 2-under 70 for a 220 total and a tie for 10th place -- his third top-10 finish of the season.

Derek Tolan finished one stroke behind in 13th, while senior Michael Baird shot a 74 for a 224 total and a share of 16th place.

"I was really happy with Luke's last two rounds, but overall, it was disappointing finishing third," Buffs coach Roy Edwards said. "We've got to get better effort and play out of our seniors. We'll be excited to get right back and play again this weekend. Whenever you play well, you're excited to play again to keep it going, and when you don't play your best, you want to get right back out there to compete again and redeem yourself."

The Buffs will be back in action on Saturday at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio.

CU Stevinson Ranch Invitational

Team scores -- 1. New Mexico State, 292-291-289--872; 2. St. Mary's (Calif.), 295-286-299--880; 3. COLORADO, 303-286-297--886; 4. Washington State, 298-295-298--891; 5. Missouri-Kansas City, 304-290-298--892; 5. Loyola-Marymount, 305-289-298--892; 7. Oklahoma City, 306-302-292--900; 8. Pacific, 305-295-301--901; 9. CSU-Bakersfield, 305-298-299--902; 10. San Francisco, 294-313-303--910; 11. Gonzaga, 320-294-298--912; 12. Drake, 315-303-296--914; 13. Northern Illinois, 319-299-309--927; 14. Akron, 318-301-309--928.

Top individuals -- 1. Anthony Michael, Oklahoma City U., 75-71-66--212; t2. Timothy Madigan, New Mexico State, 74-71-70--215; t2. Michael McRae, St. Mary's, 72-69-74--215; t2. Chadd Cocco, St. Mary's, 73-68-74--215; t5. Jason D'Amore, Loyola-Marymount, 73-71-73--217; t5. Stephen Clark, UMKC, 75-73-69--217; t7. Brian Locke, Loyola-Marymount, 76-68-74--218; t7. Matt Edwards, New Mexico State, 71-71-76--218; 9. Josh Stewart, New Mexico State, 71-78-70--219; t10. Kevin Tucker, Washington St., 73-73-74--220; t10. Luke Symons, Colorado, 80-70-70--220; t10. Austin Hurt, Washington St., 74-72-74--220.

Other CU individuals -- t16. Michael Baird 76-74-74--225; t26. Michael Imperato 76-71-79--226; t34. Jim Grady 78-72-78--228; t58. *Riley Andrews, 79-77-78--234; t63. *Justin Bardgett 76-81-79--236.

* -- Playing as an individual; scores don't count toward CU total.