PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Three Huskies finished the first round of the FAU Slomin Autism Championship in the top-20 Friday, putting Northern Illinois University in a tie for fifth place with Florida Gulf Coast and UConn through 18. The trio recorded 298 strokes to close the round +10.

Pacing the way for NIU were both Charlie Cameron and Matt Cholod, who both shot +1 in the round. After birdieing the ninth hole, Cameron finished -2 on the last 10 holes with two birdies to his credit.

Cholod, who recorded par in his first eight holes, however, he finished -1 on the front nine as he recorded 1-of-9 eagles in the opening 18-holes.

With the Cameron and Cholod duo finishing tied for 12th, Thomas Demarco was only one stroke behind at +2 and tied for 17th. Chipping in twice, Demarco posted three birdies on the day and was +1 on both the front and back nine.

As a team, the Huskies opened the day of PGA National's Squire Course +18, however, the group rallied on its final nine holes and improved by 19 strokes with four of five Huskies finishing even or under par. Cameron led the way at -2.

Director of Golf Tom Porten was pleased the team's ability to rally in the second half of the round. 

"We got off to a rough start. It took us a few holes to adjust to the wind speeds. Matt and Charlie were both solid and it was good to see Charlie battle back from a tough first nine to close his round out the way he did. Matt did a great job on the greens, an area he's worked hard on to improve," Porten said. "We're looking forward to the second round but we really need to get Salvador and Jordan going if we want to move up in the standings."

The shotgun, second round will begin tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Central time.

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. UCF - 289 (+1); 2. Jacksonville State - 290 (+2); 3. Georgetown - 291 (+3); 4. Southern Miss - 296 (+8); t5. UConn - 298 (+10); t5. NIU - 298 (+10); t5. Florida Gulf Coast - 298 (+10); 8. Morehead State - 302 (+14); t9. DePaul - 304 (+16); t9. Florida Atlantic - 304 (+16); 11. Stetson - 305 (+17); 12. Hartford - 307 (+19); 13. Murray State - 316 (+28) 

TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS: 1. Manuel Elvira (UCF) - 68 (-4); t2. Andrew Potter (FGCU) - 69 (-3); t2. Daniel Pico (JSU) - 69 (-3); t4. Eduardo Blechtein (GU) - 71 (-1); t4. Jack Musgrave (GU) - 71 (-1); t4. Tyler Hillyer (Morehead) - 71 (-1); t4. Derick Kelting (USM) - 71 (-1); t8. Juuso Kahlos (UCF) - 72 (E); t8. Freddy Thomas (DePaul) - 72 (E); t8. Jamie Mist (JSU) - 72 (E); t8. Austin Knight (Murray) - 72 E

NIU INDIVIDUALS: t12. Charlie Cameron - 73 (+1); t12. Matt Cholod - 73 (+1); t17. Thomas DeMarco - 74 (+2); t48. Jordan Less - 78 (+6); t54. Salvador Rocha - 79 (+7)