Sacred Heart Strikes! Pioneers Roll To Fifth #NECBOWL Tournament Crown 3/26/2022 Click Here for Tournament Scores/Results Click Here for Tournament Bracket (PDF) Click Here For NEC Bowling Championship Headquarters Hamilton, NJ -- One for the thumb! After capturing the Northeast Conference regular season title, top-seeded Sacred Heart left little doubt on Saturday. The Pioneers rolled past fifth-seeded LIU, 2-0, in the Championship Mega Match to claim their fifth NEC Tournament title at Hamilton Lanes in Hamilton, NJ. SHU went undefeated in tournament play, downing LIU twice and Mount St. Mary's once on its march to the championship. On Saturday, the Pioneers picked up the win in the traditional format portion of the Mega Match, 1,075-1,048, for the 1-0 advantage. SHU then dominated the Quint Baker leg with a 193-pin, 1,126-933 victory. "They came in not worrying about winning as much and just making shots and keeping it pretty simple," said SHU's Becky Kregling, the 2021-22 NEC Coach of the Year. "It worked out. There were some pretty good shots made." The Pios opened with a 255-201 score in the first baker game and posted a 257-223 victory in the second to take an 88-pin advantage. They extended that lead to 135-pins after a 191-144 effort in the third. Despite building a huge edge, Kregiing was mindful that the Pioneers not let their guard down. "That was the discussion in every huddle to not give up, keep your foot on the pedal and keep going, because at any point LIU could start striking like they did against Duquesne." LIU carved back a pin in the fourth game, with a 206-205 victory, but SHU quashed thoughts of a Shark comeback by rolling five consecutive strikes to start the final quint game, on its way to a 59-pin, 218-159, victory to seal its first NEC Tournament crown since 2019. The tournament title earned the Pioneers an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, their eighth appearance in school history. The Cinderella run for LIU saw the Sharks play their way into the field and battle out of the loser's bracket to earn the program's first berth in the NEC final since 2016. The 16-team NCAA Championship field will be announced March 30 at 4:00 pm on NCAA.com. The championship begins April 8-9th at regional sites, with the Final Four taking place on April 15-16th in Columbus, OH.