PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - After rounds of 8-over 296 and 9-over 297, Oklahoma Christian men's golf trailed eighth-place No. 4 Central Oklahoma and No. 5 Lincoln Memorial by eight strokes as its run of three consecutive top-eight national finishes appeared to be in serious jeopardy. And then, a round to remember.

"I would say today's round ranks among the best rounds of golf I have ever been a part of at OC," head coach David Lynn said.

Veterans Oskari Nikku, Leandro Mihaich and Exequiel Rodriguez all sat above par after two rounds, with Nikku logging the only sub-par round of the three through the first 36 holes.

On Wednesday's final round of stroke play when OC absolutely needed it, the All-America trio carded a 5-under 67, 2-under 70 and a 1-under 71, respectively, as the maroon-and-gray carded the second-best final round of the 20-team field with a 6-under 282 to take a hold of eighth with a 54-hole score of 11-over 875. 

"To have our three All-Americans all go shoot under par when they had to displayed unbelievable toughness," Lynn said.

Joined by the efforts of Vertti Perala, Oklahoma Christian quickly erased its eight-stroke deficit after a white-hot first 10 holes that saw the Eagles shoot 9-under 155 during that stretch to sit alone in eighth.

One overall birdie over the next five holes compared with six bogeys and a double-bogey, however, put the Eagles back behind the eight-ball as seven strokes stood between OC and eighth place with three holes remaining for the team.

Over the final 12-hole stretch between the four players, Oklahoma Christian regrouped for nine pars, two birdies and one eagle to head into the clubhouse trailing eighth-place by just three strokes with UCO and LMU coming up on the toughest stretch of the course.

After a 30-foot chip for eagle from the in-state Bronchos on the final hole missed, the Eagles accomplished what hours earlier seemed improbable by qualifying for the Medal Match Play portion of the NCAA Division II National Championships.

Nikku finished the stroke play portion of the championships earning All-Tournament recognition with a 10th place finish with a 54-hole 3-under 213. Nikku saw the most movement on the final day of individual play, moving up 23 spots on the individual leaderboard with a team-most seven birdies across the final 18 holes.



Mihaich followed Nikku with a 2-under 70 as the now-two-time First Team All-American tied for a field-fourth-most 13 birdies across the 54 holes of competition. The Bell Ville, Argentina, native also played all par 5s 9-under in the three days, marking the second-best such score in the field.

Rodriguez made a similar vertical move to Nikku, jumping 22 spots with a 1-under 71 after shooting rounds of 4-over 76 and 2-over 74. Perala completed the scorers for OC with a 2-over 74, including one of OC's two eagles on the last day.

Juan Repetto rounded out the Eagle five-bag with a 4-over 76 in his lone round of the championships after being introduced as a sub Wednesday.

The fruits of No. 7 Oklahoma Christian's furious third-round labor is a date with No. 1 and top-seed Colorado Christian in Thursday, May 22's quarterfinal round. In what will be a rematch of last year's national semifinal, the winner between OC and CCU will meet the winner of No. 10 [4] Florida Southern and No. 3 [5] North Georgia Thursday afternoon.