ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. – Bethune-Cookman Bowling began its second tournament of the young 2016-17 season on Friday afternoon, turning in a 2-3 overall record on the opening day of the FDU New Jersey Jamboree at Parkway Lanes.

The Wildcats registered a 2-3 mark in Baker matches Friday morning/afternoon, with the Wildcats bowling more for total pin count rather than overall record. The total pin count through the first two days of head-to-head bowling determines seeding going into Sunday’s bracket format for the tournament title winner.

In the opening match of the day, Bethune-Cookman faced off against No. 14 Sacred Heart. The Wildcats fell in a tightly-contested contest by a count of 870-843. In the next contest, B-CU bowled against UAB, who received votes in the 2016-17 National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Preseason Poll released early October. In that match against the Blazers, once again it was B-CU coming up just short in an 847-820 setback.

The third match of the day saw the Wildcats take on host and 10th-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson. The Cats dropped a 923-777 decision to the Knights before turning things around for the final matches of day’s schedule.

Bethune-Cookman would get into the winners column in the fourth match, using an 863-831 score line against Caldwell. The Maroon and Gold would improve upon that momentum with an 861-843 victory over Duquesne in the final match of the day.

After the opening day of Baker matches, the Cats are 21st out of the 27-team field in total pin count (4,164 pins). The host Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson sit atop the field with 4,981 pins, followed by No. 6 Sam Houston State (4,933) and No. 13 LIU-Brooklyn (4,783) heading into Saturday’s traditional match format.

The teams will square off on Saturday at 9 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 9 a.m. The tournament, consisting of Best 4-of-7 Baker matches, will determine the champion. The 13 teams will be seeded based on the performance on Friday and Saturday.