Brandon Shuff is the NCS 8-Ball Champion, but he had a tough path to get there.
Shuff lost his first match of the event to Robert Colby on Friday night, and then won nine straight matches to earn his spot in the finals. Shuff had a close call in his final match Saturday night against Redgie Cutler, but earned the hill-hill win to qualify for Sunday play.
Shuff started his Sunday with an 8-4 win over Walter Glass. Meanwhile, on the winner's side, it was Jui-Lung Chen and Austin Murphy who fought it out for the hot-seat. Chen prevailed in this match 8-4 and sent Murphy to the one loss side.
Shuff made quick work in the semi-finals, with an 8-2 win over Murphy. That left Shuff and Chen in the final race to thirteen match.
The enormity of the situation appeared to get to both players, as neither player brought their "A Game" to the final match. In the end, it was Shuff who got control of his nerves and scored the 13-11 win.
Shuff pocketed $2700 in cash and $3000 to go towards his participation in the World 8-Ball Championship in the United Arab Emirates. Chen settled for $4500 in cash.
