Men’s Bowling finishes eighth at MSC Thomas Burris Memorial

LOUSIVILLE, Ky. (January 21, 2024) – The Milligan University men's bowling team finished eighth at the MSC Thomas Burris Memorial on Saturday.

The tournament format featured five team games and 12 baker games with the overall pin total determining the final standings. Through the five team games Milligan sat eighth of 20 teams with 5,048 pins. The Buffs knocked down 2,368 pins (197.33 average) in baker play and remaining static in the tournament standings.

Joshua Collins was Milligan's top individual finisher as he placed 31st with 1,005 pins (201.0 average) in five games. He went over 200 pins three times. Bryant Griffith averaged 234.0 pins in three games with outings of 199, 256 and 247.

Jackson McRae opened the tournament with a 267 and averaged 205.8 pins across four games. Ethan Collier exceeded 200 pins in each of his first two games and had a four-game average of 201.3.

Nate Trentler (211) and Cameron Shockey (202) each added a game over 200 pins.

Milligan's top junior varsity squad finished sixth of 14 teams in the JV competition. The Buffs accumulated 6,714 pins over team games and baker play. Aiden Bailey led Milligan's JV with 956 pins (191.2 average) with a high of 239.

"We executed well today but just didn't get the carry we needed to be at the top of the standings," said assistant coach Jeff Herman. "We preach to the team that you can only control what's in your control… make good shots but there's always some luck involved. When we made good shots, we just didn't get rewarded with the pinfall we needed to string strikes. I am proud of the guys that they dug down and squeezed out every pin we could. We haven't yet finished outside the top ten all year."

Milligan bowling returns to action in two weeks at the NAIA Southeastern Open on Feb. 3-4.