April 20, 2012
LINCOLN, Neb. - After getting off to a so-so start in the qualifying rounds of the 2012 Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITCs), the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) showed signs of fatigue from bowling 24 games. They opened the double-elimination round against the 12th seeded Newman Jets, falling 4-0 but rebounded to eliminate Wright State 4-2 in the second and final match of the night.
The Hawks are the fifth-seed in the event, the same seed they were last year when they won the title and the same seed as last week before winning the 2012 NCAA Championship.
In the first match UMES fell 162-167, 197-231, 169-184 in the first three games and lost by just one pin in game four. The Hawks opened that final game throwing strike, spare, strike, spare but found themselves down by 13 pins in the eighth frame after opening in the sixth frame. Newman opened but then threw three strikes in a row. After the Hawks and Jets exchanged strikes in the ninth the clutch anchor, T'nia Falbo (Greensburg, Pa.) shot a spare and strike in the tenth but Newman only needed eight pins. They got nine and missed the single-pin spare, giving them the one pin win, 189-188.
In the second match UMES struggled early but got a break when Wright State opened in the eighth and ninth frames, allowing Falbo to strike out to secure the win, 178-171. The Hawks would cruise to a game two win, 230-181, striking out the last six frames. Game three, saw UMES throw just a 170 and allowed the Raiders to win with a 196.
In a match reminiscent of the NCAA finals, UMES took the game four win 188-121 but allowed Wright State to make it 3-2, falling 182-190 in game five. UMES cruised in game six, 203-178 to secure the win and advance to tomorrow's matches.
The Lady Hawks face West Texas A&M tomorrow morning at 9:15 a.m. ET. The Lady Buffs, the 16 seed, upset the top-seeded Shockers of Wichita State before falling to Lindenwood. The Shockers take on Newman in another elimination match while Lindenwood faces off with Midland, who topped the Jets and Wright State. Also eliminated on the Hawks side of the bracket was fellow NCAA school Kutztown. The Golden Bears fell to Lindenwood in seven games and then to Wichita State 4-1, falling by one pin in game five.
On the other side of the bracket Robert Morris (Ill.) and William Penn were eliminated. Stephen F. Austin, the third and final NCAA team fell to Webber International in the opening round, but rebounded to eliminate William Penn. They play Calumet in the morning while Pikeville plays Florida State in the other one-loss match. Webber takes on McKendree in the winner's portion of the bracket.
