NEW ORLEANS -- The North Carolina A&T bowling team finished in fifth overall place in the Tulane Collegiate Bowling Invitational behind three National Tenpin Coaches Association ranked teams.

The Aggies built upon a strong day on Saturday to go 2-1 on Sunday, including two big wins against a top-20 team.  The Aggies (6-6) competed in a bakers best 4-of-7 tournament bracket to determine the champion. 

The Aggies defeated No. 18 Prairie View A&M 4-3 in the opening round.  It was a key victory for A&T, since the Aggies took Prairie View to a tie breaker, after coming back from being 40 pins down to force an  808-808 tie in head-to-head competition on Saturday.  A&T lost the tiebreaker at 114-97 to the Panthers for their only loss on Saturday. 

But on Sunday, the Aggies battled back from being down 3-2 to win the sixth game 191-147 to force the decisive seventh game.  The Aggies won that handily, 190-162, to advance in the tournament. 

After defeating the Panthers, the Aggies took on No. 10 Stephen F. Austin and lost 4-1.  The Aggies narrowly lost the third match 189-88, and were only two pins behind the Lumberjacks in the fifth match, making it a tough loss.  

The Aggies then battled Prairie View A&M for fifth place in the tournament. They defeated the Panthers again, this time 4-2, as they closed the match with 203-133 and 179-131 wins to seal the victory. 

Eighth-ranked Sam Houston State won the Invitational, edging No. 2 Arkansas State 4-3.  The Aggies also finished behind third-place No. 10 Stephen F. Austin and fourth-place Jackson State.  Fellow MEAC Southern Division opponent Bethune-Cookman ended up in seventh place, going 5-7 on the weekend.

The Aggies will next compete in the FDU New Jersey Jamboore in Elmwood Park, N.J. from Nov. 2-4.