DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Bowling will compete in the FDU New Jersey Jamboree this weekend with the Wildcats travelling to Stratford, New Jersey for a three-day event which runs Friday, Nov. 3, through Sunday, Nov. 5. The event is hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University at 30 Strikes Lanes just a short drive from the Hackensack, New Jersey campus.
 
With Bethune-Cookman unable to participate in the originally scheduled season opener just two weeks ago in the AllState Sugar Bowl Invitational hosted by Tulane, fourth-year Head Coach Charles Thomas and the Wildcats are geared up for the coming weekend in New Jersey to begin the 2017-18 campaign.
 
Joining Bethune-Cookman and host Fairleigh Dickinson in this year's tournament field will be Sacred Heart, Monmouth, Adelphi, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Felician, Franklin Pierce, Howard, Kutztown, LIU Brooklyn, St. Francis N.Y.), Morgan State and Wilmington. That brings the grand total to 15 participating schools.
 
The FDU New Jersey Jamboree gets underway Friday at 8:30 a.m., with 5x5 Baker games.
 
In the Baker format, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once five frames are completed, the team members will remain on the same lane and complete the starting member order again, with frames six through 10 being completed. This pattern of play will continue until all 10 frames of a game are completed. No changes can be made in the order of players after the start of a game, except for substitutes, although once a bowler has been pulled from the game they are not allowed to return until the next game.
 
The teams will then square off on Saturday at 8:30 a.m., with five team (or traditional) games.
 
In the five-person team game, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once completed, the team members shall move to the alternate lane of the competition pair. This pattern of play continues until all 10 frames of a game are complete. The same substitution rules as Baker will apply.
 
The tournament concludes Sunday with a tournament at 8:30 a.m. The tournament, consisting of Best 4-of-7 Baker matches, will determine the champion. The 15 teams will be seeded based on the performance on Friday and Saturday.
 
Last year, Bethune-Cookman finished the year with a 29-75 overall record, and just a 1-17 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play. Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Charles Thomas, the Cats will look to improve upon that mark with a young squad in 2017-18, after losing a pair of All-MEAC bowlers in the form of Krysta Coleman and Ivory Miles. However, back for BCU is senior Amyre Tensley (Detroit, Mich.) who averaged a 159.03 across the 2016-17 campaign, competing in all 10 events and all Baker games for the Maroon and Gold.
 
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