RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 12, 2019) – Josh Imhoff knew the feeling of winning a collegiate bowling tournament, and on Saturday, the Oklahoma Christian freshman was able to share that joy with his teammates.

Led by a record-setting performance by Imhoff, the individual champion, the Eagles took the program's first team title by winning the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Circuit (SWIBC) V tournament at AMF Richardson.

Imhoff, from Cabot, Ark., rolled five individual games with scores of 212 or higher, topped by a school-record 277 in his second game. That broke the previous OC mark of 274, set by Kaden Rogillo in the SWIBC II tournament at Western Bowl in Amarillo, Texas, on Sept. 23.

With a score of 1,222 and a 244.4 per-game average, Imhoff easily outdistanced the individual runner-up, Austin Bertrand of Louisiana State, who had a score of 1,066 with a 213.2-pin average. It was Imhoff's second individual tournament win, as he also finished atop the SWIBC I tournament, in Amarillo on Sept. 22.

After the five individual games and 16 Baker games, OC posted a team score of 8,085, holding off LSU, which was second in the 15-team field at 8,006. Newman (Kan.) was third at 7,917.

"Wow! What can I say?" OC coach James Hayes said. "These young men have been working hard all season and the fruits of their labor are showing. Josh Imhoff definitely had an outstanding tournament and Sam Butler also had a stellar day, making the all-tournament team as well.

"We bounced back after game one and never looked back the rest of the day. LSU tried to make it interesting going into the final Baker set, but we were able to hold them off. The win today was definitely a team effort against a difficult field. I couldn't be happier for them. It was exciting and fun to watch."

As Hayes noted, Imhoff was far from the only standout for OC on Saturday. Butler, a freshman from Texarkana, Texas, placed fourth among 123 players with a score of 1,044, a 208.8 average, and a high game of 240.

Two other OC freshmen were in the top 25. Andrew McCann of Lawton was 22nd with a 925 score and a high game of 204, while Jacob Hastings of McKinney, Texas, was 25th at 921 with a high game of 209. Freshman Leotis Johnson Jr. of Chicago bowled a 240 in game three for the Eagles.

OC will be back in action on Sunday, competing in the SWIBC VI tournament at Plano Super Bowl in nearby Plano.