ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The Prairie View A&M Panthers captured their first Southwestern Athletic Conference bowling title, beating Alabama A&M twice on Championship Sunday afternoon at the International Training and Research Center. The Panthers forced a deciding match by beating A&M 4-2, then clinched the title with another 4-2 win over the Bulldogs.
It was Alabama A&M that sent Prairie View into the elimination bracket on Saturday, with a 4-3 win.
The conditions were challenging in the opening match with the oil pattern playing long and unyielding. Both teams struggled establishing their lines. Prairie View struck first blood, taking the opening game 187-178. But, A&M evened the match with a 182-159 win in game two.
PVAM led for much of game three, but three consecutive open frames in six, seven and eight left the door open for A&M to rally late. In a low scoring game, the Lady Bulldogs came out on top 143-138 to take a 2-1 match lead.
In game four, A&M couldn’t find the pocket, going without a strike. PVAM faired a bit better, getting some strikes and more importantly, minimizing the open frames. The Panthers would even the match with a 177-129 win.
With A&M surging late in game five, PVAM anchor Cynthia Veney struck out in the 10th to preserve a 176-172 win and give the Panthers a 3-2 match lead.
In the final game, Veney came up big again in the final frame as PVAM won 175-173 to force the deciding match.
In the final match, Prairie View took the early lead with 188-159 and 183-149 wins in the first two games. The Bulldogs came back to win game three 205-156, but PVAM took game four 199-152 to take a 3-1 lead.
The Bulldogs weren’t ready to fold yet as they outgunned the Panthers 214-204 in the fifth game to stay alive. But, PVAM shut the door in the sixth game, winning 179-161.
