CORAM, N.Y. - - Competing at the East Coast Conference Championship on Friday, the Wilmington University bowling team came out of the gates strong and qualified second overall heading into Baker Bracket play.
The Wildcats led all 13 teams through each of the first four matches, but Daemen overtook the Wildcats in overall pinfall totals in the fifth match, sliding the Wildcats to second overall. The Wildcats went 3-1 in Baker matches during the day, but the seeding is decided by total pinfall.
Friday started with the Wildcats' best match, defeating Roberts Wesleyan, 1,042-850. The Wildcats dropped their second match to Adelphi, but still had a strong showing, falling 986-974, to stay in first place overall. The Wildcats then defeated Bloomfield, 978-866, to stay in first and closed out their head-to-head matches with a win over 933-921, remaining in first place. The Wildcats were selected to receive their bye in the first match, where they had their worst match of the day, knocking down 856 pins.
Daemen bowled a 1,015 in their fifth match to overtake the Wildcats and finish with a total pinfall of 4,879. Wilmington finished with a total pinfall of 4,783.
The top four qualifying teams earned a bye in the first Baker Bracket match scheduled on Friday night. As the No. 2 seed, the Wildcats will play the winner of No. 7 Felician and No. 10 Molloy on Saturday. Felician defeated the Lions, 4-1, to face the Wildcats on Saturday morning.
Daemen, Wilmington, Mercyhurst, and Adelphi earned first round byes on Friday as the top four seeds.
