HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - Sebi Aliaga shot a five-under 67 in the third round of the NCAA Division III Golf Championships on Thursday, moving up 12 spots into fifth, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Men's Golf team stayed tied for fourth and right in the thick of the national championship hunt with one round still to play at the Mission Inn Resort. 

CMS currently stands at +2 after three rounds, tied with Aurora for fourth. Illinois Wesleyan maintained its lead after the third round, and is now five shots up at -5 with 18 holes still to play tomorrow, followed by Washington and Lee in second at even par, and Kenyon in third at +1.

Aliaga had five birdies and 13 pars during his round, including a stretch of four birdies in seven holes on No. 8, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 14. Aliaga is now just two shots off the lead, which is shared by Adrian Jordan of Kenyon and Alan Van Asch of Lynchburg.  

The third round was a bit of a roller-coaster as teams jockeyed for position on golf's traditional "Moving Day". Early on, CMS fell seven shots behind Washington and Lee and seemed to be fading. Washington and Lee came back to the pack, and CMS rallied to take the lead early on the back nine. Illinois Wesleyan, though, shot -7 as a team over the final six holes to surge back in front and create a little bit of separation in front of a tight pack for second heading into the final day. 

In addition to Aliaga's fifth-place standing, Arnold He still remains high up on the individual leaderboard for the Stags in 13th place at -1 for the first 54 holes. Samson Li stands in 42nd place at +5, and Logan Mills in 51st at +5. Jamison Tan was one of the four scorers for CMS on Thursday after recording back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 to finish with a 74. 

The final round will get underway Friday morning, as CMS will try to win its second national title in program history, joining the 2016 team. The Stags have had two recent podium finishes as well, ending up in third place in both 2022 and 2023.