STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – The SCAD men's bowling team won the 2024 NAIA National Championship Title Saturday afternoon.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The three-day tournament consisted of 24 baker matches to determine seeding heading into double-elimination match play.
 
DAY ONE: At the completion of the 24 baker games, SCAD qualified in seventh place. The Bees tied for seventh with St. Francis with a total pinfall of 4,781, and the tie was broken for seeding based on the team with the highest pin total for the last 12 baker games.
 
SCAD faced No. 10 Hastings in the first round and won 4-2.
 
DAY TWO: The No. 7 Bees upset No. 2 Marian University 4-1 in round two to advance to the fourth round. In the next round, SCAD defeated No. 11 Milligan 4-2, winning three of the last four games.
 
In round five, SCAD battled No. 4 Indiana Tech to a seventh game, losing 227-225 to drop into the loser's bracket.
 
FINAL DAY: The Bees started the day facing No. 5 Pikeville in round seven, winning to advance to the Championship Final, against Indiana Tech, where SCAD needed to win two matches to clinch the title.
 
In the first game, the Bees won 204-198, doubling the number of strikes the Warriors made.
 
SCAD won 213-201 in the second game, using three strikes in a row during the 10th frame to earn the 10-point win to go up 2-0. Indiana Tech bounced back in the third to claim a 235-204 win.
 
In the fourth, Indiana Tech jumped out to a big lead, but both teams ended with a strike/spare combo in the 10th frame to tie 190-190. The Warriors grabbed a 257-221 victory to knot the contest at 2.5-2.5 after five games.
 
However, SCAD dominated the sixth game with a 234-191 score on the heels of seven strikes and two spares. The back-and-forth contest continued as Indiana Tech cruised to a 222-176 win due to a stretch of six straight strikes.
 
With the score tied 3.5-3.5 after seven games, the teams went into a decisive eighth game. SCAD came out firing on all cylinders to force the if-necessary match; The Bees posted four straight strikes and seven overall to claim a 227-178 win.
 
SCAD started the second match with a 208-162 victory, with all but one frame being closed. While the Warriors tied it with a 225-195 win.
 
The Bees roared back in the third game to claim a 243-228 victory and go up 2-1, and built on their lead with a 203-179 game score, capitalizing on two frames left open by the Warriors.
 
Owning a 3-1 edge, SCAD earned strikes on seven of their first eight frames to take the game and tournament 232-210. To earn the Bees' first NAIA National Championship Title in program history.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Julian Salinas and Tyrell Ingalls were named to the NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team, with Ingalls being named the Tournament MVP.

NAIA ALL-AMERICANS: Prior to the start of the 2024 NAIA National Championship, the list of All-Americans was released, and SCAD totaled two:
 
Julian Salinas (Third Team)
Tyrell Ingalls (Third Team)
 
DAKTRONICS NAIA SCHOLAR-ATHLETES: The NAIA released the 2024 Daktronics NAIA Men's Bowling Scholar Athletes prior to the start of the National Championships, and the Bees totaled five honorees:
 
Diego Aguilar
Camdyn Drexel
Julian Salinas
Leoj Chin
Connor Bishop
 
The 2024 list sports 147 student-athletes from 48 schools who achieved at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA) at their institution. To be nominated by an institution's head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport, and have attended one full year at said institution.
 
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees will compete at the Intercollegiate Team Championships on April 17-20.