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SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- Northern Colorado men's golf team finished its encouraging 2009 fall slate with a bounce-back effort during the final round of the Cal State Northridge Bill Cullum Invitational at Wood Ranch Golf Club.

The Bears carded a 286 during the final 18 on Tuesday (only three teams in the field of 17 were better) to finish in a solid seventh place following rounds of 303 and 292 during the tournament's first two rounds.

Northern Colorado finished ahead of Cal State Fullerton, Utah State, Loyola Marymount, Southern Utah and Utah Valley, among others, on the final leaderboard.

Bears junior Stephen Bidne finished Monday with a 1-under-par 71, and he did the same Tuesday to score 217 (+1) across 54 holes and come in tied for 22nd in the individual standings. Junior Troy Sidabras finished at 223 (+7) to earn Northern Colorado's other top-40 individual finish.

As a team, the Bears finished in the top 10 in all their events this fall, and the play of Bidne and Sidabras was a big reason for that. The two combined for four top-10 individual finishes in the Bears' five events, including Bidne's event-medalist effort at Air Force's Gene Miranda Invitational in mid-September.

"I'm happy with the way the guys finished strong today after a frustrating day Monday," Northern Colorado coach Chuck Scheinost said. "It's really good to end the fall on a positive note.

"It's been a great fall campaign for Steve -- he's played really well throughout -- and a lot of the guys stepped up around him during today's final round and during a lot of our fall tournaments."

Senior Rich Lash finished tied for 41st with a 224 (+8), senior Adam Joiner tied for 50th at 225 (+9) and junior Nick Bisogno came in tied for 64th after shooting 228 (+12).

The Bears will now return to Greeley and the practice range in preparation for their spring championship season and with an eye on winning their first America Sky title. Northern Colorado will next take to the links on Feb. 1 at the Arizona Invitational in Tuscon, Ariz.

"It was a great fall," Scheinost said, "but we need to play better in the spring if we want to win the America Sky and make a run at the regionals."

Pacific won the team championship in Simi Valley with a tournament-record score of 843 (-21). The Tigers posted team rounds of 279-281-283 to best Saint Mary's previous team record 845 set in 2004.

UC Riverside's blistering final round of 275 (-13) vaulted the Highlanders into second place ahead of the host Matadors, while UC Santa Barbara (865) and Oral Roberts (867) rounded out the top-five in the 17-team field.