Led by junior Bryce Emory, NIU men’s golf wrapped up the 54-hole UCF Rio Pinar Invitational with a fourth place team score of 870.

“We held on to fourth place in a good field, and we beat all the schools from our conference,” said NIU coach Tom Porten.

Invitational Champions No. 37 Wichita State, No. 18 Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast finished in front of the Huskies.

“You’re never happy unless you are winning, but the field had some top teams in the country,” Porten said. “We are showing that we are a much more competitive team than we were in the past.”

The Huskies were led by Emory, who entered the day tied for 19th. Emory shot a five-under par 67 to finish in a tie for sixth individually.

“We needed him with a couple guys struggling and he stepped up big time,” Porten said. “It was a big step for him, and I was very happy.”

The final round 67 was Emory’s lowest round in his collegiate career.

“It was pretty exciting to shoot my lowest career round so far, it proves to me that I can do it” Emory said.

To go along with Emory’s career best round, freshman Thomas Dunne had a final round 73 which gave him his best collegiate finish in a tie for 17th.

The fourth place finish helped the Huskies get closer to their goal of breaking into the top 100, and Emory believes this week in Florida has helped team chemistry.

“Being down here for a week with just the team has helped build team chemistry,” Emory said. “Better chemistry helps build every ones confidence in each other and that will lead to more consistency and better scores.”

NIU will stay in Florida for the rest of the week and return to action Friday in the FAU Spring Break Championship in Lake Worth, Fla.