BESSEMER – After more than 5 ½ hours of competition, the Southern Jaguars have defended their title and won the 2009 SWAC Bowling Championship over Alabama A&M, four games to three.

After losing the first match on Sunday 4-2, the Jaguars and Bulldogs battled through a dramatic seven-game series that went to overtime. Southern won the first two games (179-167, 194-179) before Alabama A&M won the next two games (176-154, 163-156) to tie the match at 2-2.

After Southern won game five (184-158), Alabama A&M won game six (188-171) to force the decisive game seven.

Trailing by 20 pins in the final frame, Southern’s Vanessa Caldwell, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Bowler, spared and then threw a clutch strike on her final ball to force overtime at 179-179.

Playing the modified Baker format (frames 6-10), Caldwell brought the title home for Southern as she did in 2008. Her strike in the final frame tied the overtime period, and her spare on the final ball sealed this year’s championship.

Early on Sunday, Alabama A&M downed Southern four games to two to force the decisive match.

The Bulldogs rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the final three games to hand the Jaguars their first loss in this year’s tournament.

Southern won games one and three (185-166; 182-174), while Alabama A&M won games two and games four-six (173-164; 183-171; 183-164; 174-154).

The teams split their first four games, with Southern winning Game 1 (185-166) before Alabama A&M rebounded to take Game 2 (173-164). The Jaguars won Game 3 (182-175), and the Bulldogs again rebounded to win Game 4 (183-171) and Game 5 (183-164).

Southern’s Vanessa Caldwell was named the Most Outstanding Bowler of the All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive year. During team competition, she averaged 205.40, highlighted by a high game score of 255.