BOSSIER CITY, LA – Top seed Alabama A&M will face #4 seed Prairie View A&M in the Championship match of the 2010 SWAC Bowling Championship at Holiday Lanes.
The championship match will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday and will air tape-delay on ESPNU Friday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. CT. One-loss Prairie View A&M must defeat undefeated Alabama A&M twice to claim the title.
This will be Alabama A&M’s fourth consecutive year in the championship match. AAMU, which had a bye in the first round of Saturday’s double-elimination bracket, swept its two matches en route to the finals in defeating both #3 Grambling State and #2 Southern 4-0.
This will be the second Championship appearance for Prairie View A&M, but its first since 1997. The fourth-seeded Lady Panthers won four of five matches Saturday and staved off elimination in three consecutive matches, including two seven-game contests, to advance to the title match.
After defeating Jackson State 4-1 in its first match, Prairie View lost in seven games to Southern 4-3. However, the Panthers responded with wins over Grambling (4-0) and wins in epic back-to-back seven game series over Jackson St. and two-time defending champion Southern.
Exciting matches filled Saturday’s nine-game schedule; three of the four games won by Alabama A&M over Grambling State were by a combined six pins. The first of two Southern-Prairie View A&M contests on Saturday was one of runs with SU winning the first two games, only to have PV win the next three. Southern won game six to force a decisive game seven and closed strong to pull away from a tie game midway through game seven to win going away.
Later in the day, Prairie View A&M defeated Jackson State 4-3 in a see-saw affair (PV won game won; JSU games 2-3; PV games 4-5; JSU game 6) that Prairie View put away in game seven with five consecutive strikes.
With a berth in the championship match on the line, the final Prairie View – Southern match Saturday was the most intense of the day. The teams equally split the first six games, with PV winning the final two games to eliminate Southern.
Saturday’s Results
Game 1: #4 Prairie View A&M def. #5 Jackson St. 4-1 (162-159, 182-135, 161-188, 156-140, 148-144)
Game 2: #3 Grambling St def. #6 Alabama St. 4-1 (131-138, 186-155, 157-170, 161-128, 173-138, 168-147)
Game 3: #5 Jackson St. def. #6 Alabama St. 4-0 (192-118, 199-165, 190-130, 152-138); Alabama St. eliminated
Game 4: #2 Southern def. #4 Prairie View A&M 4-3 (193-167, 163-161, 170-190, 168-178, 173-175, 186-174, 222-172)
Game 5: #1 Alabama A&M def. #3 Grambling St. 4-0 (171-169, 169-168, 196-159, 187-184)
Game 6: #4 Prairie View A&M def. #3 Grambling St. 4-0 (165-163, 163-158, 186-168, 181-167); Grambling St. eliminated
Game 7: #1 Alabama A&M def. #2 Southern 4-0 (172-168, 209-183, 167-162, 180-171)
Game 8: #4 Prairie View A&M def. #5 Jackson St. 4-3 (184-163, 135-163, 144-152, 169-143, 214-135, 142-154, 221-129); Jackson St. eliminated
Game 9: #4 Prairie View A&M def. #2 Southern 4-3 (159-162, 206-171, 163-165, 191-156, 166-184, 187-181, 178-156); Southern eliminated
Sunday’s Championship Round
1 p.m. #1 Alabama A&M vs. #4 Prairie View A&M (must win twice to win title)
