ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (March 20, 2010) – The Kutztown University bowling team is two victories away from hoisting the Northeast Conference championship trophy. The second-seeded Golden Bears advanced to the Sunday's semifinals of the NEC championship tournament after eliminating top-seeded and regular season champion New Jersey City Saturday afternoon.

Kutztown's backs will be up against the wall when they face sixth-seeded Sacred Heart to open play on Sunday while fourth-seeded Adelphi will be in the same predicament as it faces fifth-seeded and reigning tournament champion Farleigh-Dickinson.  Both matches are slated to begin at 10:35 am EST.

The double-elimination tournament consists strictly of best-of-seven baker play. The first team to win four 10-frame baker games takes the match. Kutztown lost its first match of the day to Saint Peter's in a double roll-off.

Kutztown, which accounted for a 201 baker game average for the day, responded by ousting both No. 3 seed St. Francis (NY) and NEC regular season champion New Jersey City.

Sophomore Kayla Jones was key to KU's comeback as was freshman Heather Shoemaker. The former struck in nearly 50 percent of the time throughout the day, and the latter rolled 7 strikes in 10 attempts against NJCU.

“I have to give my team a lot of credit for coming back following an emotional match with Saint Peter's,” Kutztown coach Joe Ambrose said. “They displayed a lot of resilience and character. The girls just kept performing and didn't think about losing. They are looking forward to the semifinals.”

Championship Bracket (PDF):  http://www.northeastconference.org/Pdfs/wbowl/2010/3/20/NEC%20Bowl%20Bracket%2010.pdf

NEC CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Match 1

#1 New Jersey City 4, #8 Long Island 1

(211-103, 140-163, 162-133, 173-131, 179-134)

Match 2

#5 Fairleigh Dickinson 4, #4 Adelphi 1

(210-176, 240-257, 182-143, 258-188, 236-154)

Match 3

#6 Sacred Heart 4, #3 St. Francis (NY) 0

(177-173, 212-203, 189-169, 180-171)

Match 4

#7 Saint Peter's 3.5, #2 Kutztown 3.5 (*SPC wins double roll-off)

(172-197, 140-192, 199-155, 146-163, 159-138, 182-172, 177-177, 167-162*)

Match 5

#5 Fairleigh Dickinson 4, #1 New Jersey City 0

(197-191, 181-147, 206-180, 215-180)

Match 6

#6 Sacred Heart 3.5, #7 Saint Peter's 3.5 (*SHU wins baker roll-off)

(194-126, 189-189, 192-172, 170-167, 144-175, 193-209, 162-153, 109-75*)

Match 7

#4 Adelphi 4, #8 Long Island 0

(226-127, 191-159, 178-150, 198-138)

Match 8

Kutztown 4.5, St Francis (NY) 2.5

(171-198, 164-152, 169-169, 170-180, 168-146, 198-158, 177-131)

Match 9

#4 Adelphi 4, #7 Saint Peters 1

(171-118, 201-200, 157-144, 175-178, 200-161)

Match 10

#2 Kutztown 4, #1 New Jersey City 1

(208-146, 217-178, 179-166, 202-217, 201-176)