Men’s Bowling upsets No. 3 SCAD Savannah at Unaffiliated Conference Championship
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (February 27, 2022) – The Milligan University men’s bowling team concluded its inaugural season on a high note as the Buffs notched their first-ever match play victory over one of the top collegiate bowling squads in the nation at the NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping Conference Championship.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (February 27, 2022) – The Milligan University men's bowling team concluded its inaugural season on a high note as the Buffs notched their first-ever match play victory over one of the top collegiate bowling squads in the nation at the NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping Conference Championship.
Through 24 baker games, the Buffs finished eighth in qualifying with total of 4,220 pins, or an average of 175.83 pins per game. Milligan notched five games over 200 and closed baker play with scores of 234, 237 and 174.
In double-elimination match play, Milligan matched up with No. 3 SCAD Savannah. The first game of the best-of-five series came down to the final ball for Tristan Crawford, who came through with a strike to clinch a 204-203 game one win. After SCAD Savannah picked up the second game 200-170, Milligan found itself in another close matchup in game three. Matthew Richards cashed a spare on a nine-pin, 10-pin split in the sixth frame and the Buffs rode that momentum to a 166-158 victory. The Buffs racked up six strikes in the fourth game to defeat SCAD Savannah 190-181 and earn their first match play victory in program history.
The Buffs found themselves short-handed in the next round and fell 3-0 to St. Xavier and fell to the loser's bracket.
Milligan bowled well, but ultimately fell to St. Francis 3-0 (199-228, 197-225, 158-247) to close our their championship run.
Crawford excelled at the event in Milligan's cleanup position. In 34 games (105 frames), he only missed on five spare opportunities and struck out the final frame on six separate occasions.
"This season was a struggle for our guys for a variety of reasons," said head coach Brian Rickert. "We were a brand-new program, all freshman and only five guys which afforded no substitutions. Our focus all season was to be better than the day before. No matter the results, to keep giving 100 percent to the processes we have in place to make us the best we can be. I am so proud of the guys that even when we didn't have the best of finishes at many of tournaments or had some struggles, they stayed together as a team…lifting each other up…and making this one of the best group of guys I've had the pleasure of coaching. While our numbers will increase next season, these five guys have laid the framework & the culture for the incoming freshman to follow to continue getting better and better. I'm very excited to see what both our men's & women's teams will look like in the fall and think we can see some stronger finishes in the future."
