Men’s Bowling sent to elimination bracket at SSAC Championships

SAVANNAH, Ga. (February 23, 2024) – The Milligan University men's bowling team was dropped into the elimination bracket at the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championships at Bowlero Savannah on Friday.

Seeding for the tournament was based on regular season RPI which designated Milligan the No. 2 seed in the six-team bracket. The tournament format in the winners bracket features a mini mega match that includes one traditional team game and four baker games. If the two teams split the team game and bakers, a best of five baker match will be played.

Milligan took on third-seeded SCAD Atlanta after the Bees dispatched No. 6 Stillman 2-0. In the single team game SCAD had the top three individual scorers and racked up 1,014 pins compared to 864 by Milligan. Nate Trentler paced the Buffs with 191 pins.

"The men had some decent ball reaction in our practice session but unfortunately the lanes we bowled on for our first match played very differently and we couldn't get adjusted," said head coach Brian Rickert. "Even when we threw some good shots we couldn't get the pins to fall and SCAD-Atlanta just flat out got everything to fall."

In the four-game baker series SCAD had three of the four highest games and emerged with a 812-652 win. The Bees knocked Milligan to the elimination bracket via a 2-0 defeat.

"They deserved to beat us today… they have some talent," said Rickert. "Tomorrow, we'll regroup… continue making good shots and hopefully we'll be able to get some momentum going and make a run from the elimination bracket."

The Buffs take on fifth-seeded Blue Mountain in the elimination bracket tomorrow morning. Milligan will need to win five knockout matches on Saturday to claim the SSAC title.

"I love these guys and I know they want this so badly," said Rickert. "We're going to give everything we have until they tell us we have to leave the building!"