COLUMBUS, Ga. - The men's bowling team, playing in their first USBC National Championship, qualified 16th out of 16 teams, finishing with a 32-game total of 5873. The Panthers will take on No. 1-seeded Lindenwood, who tallied a 32-game total of 6613, tomorrow at 8 a.m. Live video streaming is available at www.bowl.com
The Panthers started slowly in their early games, scoring 143 and 159 in their first two games, the lowest of the 16 teams completing. However, the Panthers showed improvement with a 198 and 190 in game three and four. DU finally hit 200 in their 10th game and followed that up with a 194 and 196. The Panthers finished the first half of games strong, tallying a 235 in the 13th game, which was the highest of the 16 teams. After a 183 and 184, the Panthers bowled their highest game of the first half at 242.
Davenport was in 11th place after 16 games with a first block total of 2995.
In the second set of 16 games, the Panthers did not fair at well, scoring a 2878 in the second block of play.
Again, the Panthers had a slow start, notching games of 172, 154 and their qualifying low of 136. Games of 174, 164 and 199 followed before the Panthers went over 200 in the sixth game, scoring a 205. A 245 highlighted the Panthers second set of 16 games as the team struggled in their late games.
The second block of 16 games put the Panthers in the 16seed for the double elimination bracket play.
The Panthers will start the double-elimination match-play tournament tomorrow at 8 a.m. when DU faces No. 1 Lindenwood. By the end of Friday, only four teams will remain with the semifinals starting Saturday morning.
