SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Milligan University men's bowling team battled their way to the final of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championships over the course of Friday and Saturday. The squad ended up as the conference's runner-up in Savannah.

Milligan began their weekend with a decisive 2-0 victory over SCAD Atlanta, as Aiden Bailey's 253 pins helped propel them to a 1,088-pin total in the team game. In the Baker games, Milligan won 836-692 to earn the triumph and reach a battle with SCAD Savannah.

In a tight battle against SCAD Savannah, in which the Buffs dropped their team game by a final of 1,007-979, the Buffaloes fell 2-1 after winning the initial Baker games 852-716. Nate Trentler's 225 pins in the team game were not enough to push the Buffaloes over the top. The best-of-five Baker games, used as a tiebreaker, went the way of the Bees by a 3-2 tally.

The Buffaloes then walloped Mobile in a best-of-seven Baker games battle, 4-1, to advance to the final round against SCAD Savannah. They would need a win, plus a tiebreaker triumph, as the Bees had not yet lost a matchup on the weekend.

In what was nearly a carbon copy of their first matchup, the Buffs dropped the team game, but were the victors in the Baker contests (801-760). This time, in the best-of-five Baker games, MU came out with a 3-0 sweep to earn a chance at the conference title. 

The tiebreaker was a best-of-seven Baker games, which the top-seeded Bees ended up taking 4-0 to beat out the Buffaloes.

It was an impressive weekend for the Buffs, as they showed how competitive they can be against arguably the top squad in the NAIA. The team will be back on the lanes on Mar. 7-9 at the USBC Sectionals.