Sterling Heights, Mich. -  After falling behind 0-2 in two of their three matches, the Marian men's bowling team battled at the NAIA Championships on Friday afternoon, fighting through adversity to finish the day 3-0, reaching the NAIA National Championship match. Marian's wins in the tournament equal the program's total entering the campaign, setting a new single tournament win record for the program.

The Knights started the day with a bye after earning the No. 4 seed on Thursday, taking on No. 5 seed UT Southern in their first match of the day Friday. The Knights fell behind quickly in the best-of-five match against UT Southern, losing game one 216-191 and game two 224-167. On the brink of falling into the consolation bracket, Marian rattled off three consecutive wins, striking 247, 257, and 231 pins over the remaining three games, scoring more than enough pins as the Firehawks failed to bowl more than 201 in the final games.

Marian's win advanced them to play top-seed Indiana Tech, but as luck would have it the Knights suffered the same start as they day against UT Southern. Marian lost the first two games against the Warriors 265-198 and 197-175, only to turn around and stave the defeat with a 208-182 victory. The Knights bowlers continued to knock down strikes, bowling a 225 in the fourth game to force game five. In the fifth game, Marian closed strong with a 221 pinfall, which stood as more than enough as the Warriors mustered 175. 

The win over Indiana Tech sent Marian into the winner's bracket final, where they took on No. 2 seed Lawrence Tech. Marian started strong in their quest to reach the championship match, winning 191-157 in game one. The second game proved to be the closest of the four in the match, with Marian edging out the Blue Devils 210-209, sending the Knights on top 2-0. Lawrence Tech would take the third game as they closed with six consecutive strikes, but Marian held strong, winning the fourth game 205-151, with NAIA All-American Dylan Mollo clinching the win with a pair of strikes in the 10th frame. 

"It is unreal to be one match away with an NAIA National Championship in front of us," said head coach Jordan Gray. "The guys battled through the matches, going through the highs and lows of each match. We started do down 0-2 in each of the first two matches and battled each time against a pair of really good teams. I am proud of the fight we showed all day, but the job is not done."

Marian will bowl for the NAIA National Championship on Saturday, taking on either Indiana Tech, Lawrence Tech, or St. Xavier in the title match. Marian will have two chances to win having not lost in the double-elimination bracket, and will finish as either the NAIA National Champion or National Runner-Up. The Knights will bowl for a championship at 12 p.m.

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