The LSU Tigers captured the team championship Tuesday with a final round 4-over par 292 to take the 25th annual Louisiana Classics by two strokes over Illinois, which was held at the Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette.

LSU’s Andrew Loupe, the individual medalist, led the way with a 5-under par 67 in the final round. The Tigers were the only team to post a better score than the University of New Orleans, which moved up three spots in the final round with a final round 5-over par 293 to finish in a tie for eighth place with Southern Mississippi.

LSU fired rounds of 295, 277 and 292 — 864 for the title. Tulsa (871) came in third followed by Southeastern Louisiana University (881) with Memphis University (882) rounding out the top five.

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LSU’s Sang Yi tied for 10th place individually with scores of 75-70-72—217 shooting one over par. Austin Gutgsell, a Mandeville High graduate, posted rounds of 74-71-76—221 finishing at five over, to earn a tie for 24th individually.

LSU coach Chuck Winstead said he was certainly pleased with the result.

“Illinois is a great club and played well enough to win. Our guys just hung in there and battled until the very end to get the victory,” Winstead added.

Winstead said playing in Lafayette gave his team a big boost because there is a tremendous LSU following in that part of the state.

“This was just another positive step forward for our team. We’re about to hit the meat of our schedule and must continue to improve with each event as we head toward the postseason,” Winstead said.

Winstead talked about the continued improvement of Yi and Gutgsell.

“We continue to see Sang and Austin progress every week. They’ll only continue to get better,” said the LSU coach. The Tigers golf team returns to action March 19-21 for their annual trip to Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga., to participate in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern.

UNO junior Ken Looper a Fontainebleau High graduate, who had one of the best rounds of the day, registered a 4-under part 68 in the final round to grab third place finish individually. Looper was one of only three players to break 70 in the final round. He carded an opening round 73 and backed it up with a two-under 70 in the second round, finishing with a 211 total coming in at five under. UNO junior Oscar Zetterwall picked up his second straight top-10 individual finish after a final-round 74 put him in a tie for seventh. The Privateers also took a 3-over par 75 from Sebastian Szirmak (T-71st individually), while Hector Arias (T-53rd) finished with a 76. Derek East (82nd) tallied a 77, his best round of the tournament. The Privateers will continue play next week at the Bulldog Classic in Choudrant.