Men's Golf | February 26
GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Improving by two strokes and carding the program's 10th-best score in history, NIU moved into a tie for third place at the Loyola Intercollegiate as four Huskies finished under par to post a 282 in the second round. Northern Illinois University will enter the final day 14 strokes from tournament leader Eastern Michigan and six from second place UConn.
Three Huskies closed the day the top-25, led by
Charlie Cameron's tie for fourth. The shot a 71 in the round to maintain his place in the top-five. Freshman
Jordan Less carded a season-best 69 in the round to improve to -2 through 36-holes, joined by teammate
Thomas DeMarco tied for 24th.
Salvador Rocha was the fourth Huskie to shoot under par, rallying from +2 with six holes remaining to shoot 71 and close the day +3 overall in the tournament.
"We improved our position today by playing better team golf," said Director of Golf
Tom Porten, "it was nice to see Jordan (Less) have full command of his game and lead us with a solid 69. With Charlie and Thomas close by at 71, it came down to Sal and he closed out his round three birdies in his final six holes."
Porten was pleased with the team's progress on the day and recognizes the team's area for improvement.
"We still have some work to do managing the par five 18th but we are starting to make better adjustments on the course. We picked up two spots today to get into the final pairing so we're looking forward to seeing what the guys can do in tomorrow's final round," he added.
NIU will pair with EMU, Missouri State and UConn in the final round. The shotgun start will commence at 9:45 a.m. Central time.
TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Eastern Michigan – 275-277=552 (-24); 2. UConn – 282-278=560 (-16); t3. Missouri State – 286-280=566 (-10); t3. NIU – 284-282=566 (-10); t5. Elon – 284-285=569 (-7); t5. Seton Hall – 282-287=569 (-7); 7. Arkansas State – 282-288=570 (-6); 8. UT Martin – 280-293=573 (-3); 9. St. John's – 288-290=578 (+2); t10. SIUE – 287-294=581 (+5); t10. Air Force – 290-291=581 (+5); t12. Loyola (Md.) – 293-290=583 (+7); t12. Utah Valley – 289-294=583 (+7); 14. DePaul – 292-294=586 (+10); 15. Drake – 293-297=590 (+14); 16. Murray State – 296-297=593 (+17)
TOP-10: 1. Kyle Rodes (EMU) – 69-64=133 (-11); 2. Nicholas Ross (EMU) – 64-72=136 (-8); 3. Adam Fisher (Mo. St.) – 71-66=137 (-7); t4.
Charlie Cameron (NIU) – 67-71=138 (-6); t4. Tobias Eden* (Ariz. St.) – 69-69=138 (-6); t6. Lloyd Jefferson go (SHU) – 68-70=138 (-6); t7. Nabeel Khan (UConn) – 72-67=139 (-5); t7. Nick Harrington (UConn) – 71-68=139 (-5); t7. Ryan Douglass* (Ariz. St.) – 71-68=139 (-5); six players tied for 10th
NIU SCORES: t4.
Charlie Cameron – 67-71=138 (-6); t24.
Jordan Less – 73-69=142 (-2); t24.
Thomas DeMarco – 71-71=142 (-2); t52.
Salvador Rocha – 76-71=147 (+3); t60.
Russell Matos* - 75-73=148 (+4); t79.
Matt Cholod – 73-78=151 (+7)
* - playing as an individual
