LANSING, Mich. -- The University of St. Francis men's bowling team began NAIA National Championship competition on a strong note Thursday afternoon when it won its first Mega-Match Series of the Red Bracket against Saint Xavier University before falling to Lawrence Tech (Mich.) in the second round that resulted in the Saints moving down to the elimination bracket in the double-elimination style tournament.  St. Francis was one of 12 teams to make the national championship finals.

The No. 7-seeded Fighting Saints beat out No. 10-seeded Saint Xavier after capturing two of the three points necessary to advance.  St. Francis obtained its first point with 1,096 pins knocked down following round one, which consisted of a five-man traditional game series.  Jalen Pfaff (266), Christopher Bald (246), Trevor Anifer (212), Jacob Gunther (203) and Dylan Holtz (169) were called upon to compete for the Saints, whose combined total edged out Saint Xavier by just 12 pins.  The Cougars totaled 1,084 pins.

In round two, SXU claimed the second point of the Mega-Match to tie the score at 1-1 after totaling 1,026 pins to USF's 942 in a total pinfall Baker five-set series.  SXU held a slight 11-pin lead after the first two sets but a disastrous third set saw the Cougars extend their advantage to 112 pins before St. Francis outscored SXU by 28 pins over the final two sets to settle for the 84-pin defeat.

With the score tied at 1-1, the two teams moved to a best-of-seven traditional Baker series format tiebreaker with the Saints defeating the Cougars in four straight sets for the third point and the 2-1 win.

Following the victory over Saint Xavier, the Saints advanced to faceoff against No. 2-seeded Lawrence Tech.  St. Francis duplicated its performance in capturing the first point in round one before falling to the Blue Devils with a round two defeat.  Pfaff (213), Anifer (207), Holtz (190), Bald (188) and Gunther (184) combined to post a round one total of 982 to LTU's 850, while Lawrence Tech's 913-pin output in round two exceeded USF's 876-pin total.

In the tiebreaker, St. Francis jumped out to a 1-0 lead before the two teams were knotted with a 2-2 showing after the first four sets.  The Blue Devils would later win the series and capture the third point of the Mega-Match with a 4-2 final score and 2-1 overall win, forcing the Saints into Friday's elimination bracket.

A total of four elimination rounds will be played on Friday in each of the Red and Blue brackets with the victors facing off against the last remaining unbeaten team in each respective bracket.  The final two teams standing after Friday's faceoffs will advance to Saturday's Championship match.

Up Next
The Saints will face No. 11 Cumberland University (Tenn.) on Friday at 7:30 am CST.  The Phoenix dropped down into the elimination bracket after falling to No. 6 Marian University (Ind.) 2-0 in their Mega Match Series.

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