INDIANAPOLIS – With the regular season winding down, the Missouri Baptist University men's bowling team competed in one final tune-up before entering postseason mode. MBU finished in the top half of a loaded field at the Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic, the largest Tier One tournament that the Spartans have participated this year.
 
During Saturday morning's six traditional games, the Spartans shook off some early-morning rust and were on top of their game when the third game rolled around. MBU registered scores of 848, 956, 992, 1008, 915, and a high of 1,062 in Game Three. At the end of Day One, the Spartans sat in 30^th place overall.
 
The Spartans remained in the top half of the final standings following 15 Baker games on Day Two. Totaling 2,731 pins and averaging 182.06 in Baker play, the Spartans combined total came out to 8,512 pins, which was good for 35^th out of 78 teams.
 
Paving the way for the Spartans during their traditional games was veteran leader Dakoda Phelps. The grad student who is utilizing his COVID year, bowled a 171 in Game One followed by five straight games above 210. Phelps recorded games of 231, 216, 247, 210, and 232 for a 217.8 average and 20^th place overall.
 
Hunter Jones joined Phelps in the Top 100 placing 73^rd out of 539 participants. Jones averaged 204.00 with high games of 258 and 223 in Games 3 & 5.
 
Bryce Thurman and Seth Harris represented the Spartans' next wave of finishers as the two upperclassmen finished within 10 pins of one another at 1,137 and 1,127, respectively. Thurman bowled a pair of consecutive 200+ games (214, 210) in Games 4 & 5 to place 132^nd overall, while Harris had scores of 212 and 211 in Games 1 & 3 to finish 145^th.
 
Cameron Peters and James Bennett rounded out MBU's bowlers with Peters averaging 174.8 through five games.
 
Up next for the Missouri Baptist men's bowling program is the NAIA Unaffiliated Group Championship next weekend in Belton, Mo., which features teams from the American Midwest Conference (AMC), Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC). The winner of next week's Unaffiliated Group Championship earns an automatic bid to the NAIA Men's Bowling National Championship held in late March.