Men’s golf saved its best for last, wrapping up fall play with its first top-three finish since it picked up second place Feb. 23, 2013, at the Forest Hills Intercollegiate.

The Huskies (289, 301, 590) finished third out of 14 teams Tuesday at the Sagamore Fall Preview in Noblesville, Ind. The third round was canceled due to heavy rain.

The Huskies were just behind No. 1 Illinois (284, 286, 570) and No. 8 Auburn (280, 298, 578), respectively. They were the highest-placing MAC team, finishing 14 strokes ahead of Eastern Michigan (302, 302, 604).

“I think it showed the theme we’ve been talking about this season,” said head coach Tom Porten. “We put everything together. To make more birdies than the No. 1 team in the country shows the work [our players] put in. We’re moving in a really positive direction. The stats show in each tournament that our scoring has gotten better.”

NIU led the field with its short game, completing a tournament-high 35 birdies. Junior Jordan Wetsch (71, 72, 143) led NIU with nine birdies, while sophomore Joo-Young Lee (71, 79, 150) had eight birdies.

Illinois’ Thomas Detry (70, 69, 139) placed first. Wetsch finished tied for fifth place, his highest finish of the season. He finished four strokes behind Detry. Porten said Wetsch has done a great job of establishing himself as one of the top players in the conference.

In the first round, the Huskies put up their best score of the season, with Wetsch and Lee finishing under par. It was the first time NIU has had two players score under par in the same round this season.

Sophomore Raphael Denais (74, 78, 152) and freshman Patrick Murphy (73, 81, 154) put together strong rounds. Murphy was tripped up on his second hole of the day, shooting an eight on the par-5, but he recovered well and totaled five birdies.

“If you look at the morning round, it was very similar to our first few tournaments,” Porten said. “We started terrible, but they refused to let a few bad swings define them. They fought hard. In golf, we use a term: grinding; and they really grinded out those last few holes. [Lee] turned a 77 into a 71, and our freshman, Pat Murphy, really pulled it together with his short game. They have resiliency and toughness, and they believe they can compete with the top teams in the country. It’s very exciting for coach [Andrew] Frame and I to see their work in practice come out on the course.”

Redshirt junior Nick Huggins (81, 72, 153) struggled in the first round. He hit four double bogies and three bogies to drag him down to a nine-over par finish, but he responded to the adversity with a good second round. He birdied four of the last six holes in the round.

Huggins “was really down. He had a tough morning,” Porten said. “He didn’t hit the ball well, and he putted really poorly. Before the second round, he and I had a quick pep talk. I told him about a player I coached who had [a] bad morning and then went [on] to play the best afternoon of the day. It’s a symbol of what we’re able to do in the last few tournaments. One guys goes down and another steps up. I’m really pleased for Nick.”

Capping off the fall season with its best finish gives NIU momentum heading into the spring season.

“I think it’s a great moment carrier,” Porten said. “Hopefully, we still have a chance to get outside and play a few rounds. We need to work to be more consistent on putting and work on our short game. Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off.”

The Huskies will spend the offseason trying to maximize their more limited practice time. When it finally gets too cold for actual golf, they’ll turn indoors to work on chipping and pitching. Porten said he hopes some of the players get a chance to head south to get in a few rounds, but he mainly wants them to maintain their touch and feel so the Huskies will be ready to go in February when they travel to the Bayou City Collegiate Championship Feb. 20-22 in Humble, Texas.