GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The Northern Illinois University Huskies completed their final round of the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club Monday, finishing tied for fourth with Arkansas State after a final round score of 283 (-5). NIU carded a season-low, three-round stroke total of 849 (-15).
Connecticut finished first overall with a weekend stroke total of 834 (-30), closing the eight stroke gap between MAC rival Eastern Michigan, who shot a 289 in the third round to finished second. The Huskies finished two strokes behind third place Elon.
"Today we saw continued progress from our young team," said Directo of Golf
Tom Porten. "Jordan and Sal continued to play consistently and Matt finished very strong with birdies on four of this last seven to give us a boost. I liked that we made 23 birdies in a final round but a few too many mistakes hurt us on the back nine. I'm disappointed we could not move up but we made a few too many mistakes off the tee on 15/16 and it costs us three shots and a top 3 finish."
The Huskies were led by senior
Charlie Cameron who recorded his first ever top-10 finish with a career low 211 and a career best -5. Cameron carded a 73 (+1) in his final round that left him in a six way tie for 10th. He birdied three of four par fives in the final round.
NIU also received strong contributions from newcomers
Jordan Less and
Thomas DeMarco. Less completed his final round with a -2 that moved him up eight spots and into a tie for 16th. He set season-bests for single-round score (69), total score (212), and finish (t16) with his play.
In his first tournament with NIU, DeMarco shot a consistent 214 (71-71-72) that landed him in a tie for 23rd. After shooting even in the final round, DeMarco moved up one spot in the final standings. He recorded five birdies in the final round.
"Overall Charlie's first top-10 was hard earned and Jordan's top twenty shows he is a maturing freshman and along with Thomas t23rd are all good foundations for the rest of the spring season," Porten added.
NIU will return to Arizona on March 17 and 18 for the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix, hosted at GCU's campus course.
TEAM STANDINGS: 1. UConn – 282-278-274=834 (-30); 2. Eastern Michigan – 275-277-289=841 (-23); 3. Elon – 284-285-278=847 (-17); t4. NIU – 284-282-283=849 (-15); t4. Arkansas State – 284-285-278=849  (-15); 6. Missouri State – 286-280-289=855 (-9); 7. Seton Hall – 282-287-288=857 (-7 ); 8. UT Martin – 280-293-287=860 (-4); 9. Utah Valley – 289-294-284=867 (+3); 10. St. John's – 288-290-290=868 (+4); 11. Air Force – 290-291-288=869 (+5); t12. Loyola (Md.) – 293-290-288=871 (+7); t12. SIU Edwardsville – 287-294-290=871 (+7); 14. DePaul – 292-294-287=873 (+9); 15. Drake – 293-297-294=884 (+20); 16. Murray State – 296-297-297=890 (+26)
TOP-10: 1. Kyle Rodes (EMU) – 69-64-70=203 (-13); 2. Lloyd Jefferson Go (SHU) – 68-70-67=205 (-11); 3. Nicholas Ross (EMU) – 64-72-70=206 (-10); 4. Eric Dietrich (UConn) – 70-71-66=207 (-9); t5. Jino Sohn* (Ariz. St.) – 69-71-68=208 (-8); t5. Nabeel Khan (UConn) – 72-67-69=208 (-8); 7. Jared Mactas (Elon) – 70-70-69=209 (-7); t8. Adam Fisher (Mo. St.) – 71-66-73=210 (-6); t8. Jonathan Hewett (DePaul) – 71-69-70=210 (-6); six players tied for 10th
NIU SCORES: t10.
Charlie Cameron – 67-71-73=211 (-5); t16.
Jordan Less – 73-69-70=212 (-4); t23.
Thomas DeMarco – 71-71-72=214 (-2); t37.
Salvador Rocha – 76-71-70=217 (+1); t64.
Matt Cholod – 73-78-71=222 (+6); t69.
Russell Matos* - 75-73-75=223 (+7); * - playing as an individual
