 Delton Howard |
The 12th stop on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour was hosted by Emerald City Billiards in Greenville, NC. Local player Delton Howard stayed close and took the final two games to win a hill-hill final match against Rusty Shaw.
To take the hotseat, Howard defeated Montez Lloyd (7-5), John Ormsby (7-2), Paul Mullins (7-4) and Shaw (7-5).
Meanwhile, Shaw posted wins over Phillip Richardson (7-1), Wayne Richardson (7-5) and Ray Vines (7-2) before being sent to the one-loss side by Howard (7-5). Shaw proceeded to make quick work of Mullins (7-0) and faced Howard once again.
The final match was nip and tuck all the way. Shaw got out to an early lead, but could never stretch it past two games. To take the hill first, Shaw executed a clever 3-9 combination that, if missed, would have snookered Howard.
Howard won the next game to pull even at eight games apiece and force a final, deciding game. Trading safeties, both players had their chances at the table, but Howard gave Shaw the opening for which he was looking. With three balls left on the table, Shaw seemed to have victory within reach.
Having resigned himself to defeat, Howard watched in amazement as Shaw missed a nearly straight-in eight-ball. Sprinting to the table, Howard pocketed the last two balls to take the hill-hill victory.
The next stop on the Jacoby Tour will be June 23rd at Babineau's Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
