Vincent Morris returned to the Tri-State Tour winners' circle on Sunday, February 15, with an undefeated run through a field of 23. Having won two stops on the tour, four years ago (February and March, 2012), it was his first win since. The $750-added event was hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Following a double hill win in the opening round over Kevin Scalzitti, Morris went on to defeat Jamiyl Adams 7-5 and then meet Bryan Jeziorski in a winners' side semifinal. Frankie Scanlon, in the meantime, squared off against Ada Lio. Morris downed Jeziorski 7-4, as Scanlon was sending Lio to the losers' bracket 7-5. Morris took the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Scanlon and waited on what turned out to be the return of Ramon Feliciano.
Feliciano had been moved to the loss side by Lio 7-5 in the opening round of play. He won five straight, including 6-4 wins over Tony Ignomirello and Mike Strassberg to face Lio a second time. Jeziorski drew Jamiyl Adams, who'd survived a double hill fight against Luis Jimenez and defeated ChristIan Smith 7-4 to reach him. Feliciano successfully wreaked his vengeance on Lio 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, met Jeziorski, who'd defeated Adams, double hill.
In those quarterfinals, the first money round, Feliciano survived a double hill matchup against Jeziorski to face Scanlon in the semifinals. He defeated Scanlon 6-3 and got a shot at Morris, in the hot seat waiting for him.
It was a back and forth, double hill final. After trading racks in the opening two games, Morris moved ahead by two. Feliciano chalked up two to tie. Two more for Morris were followed by two more for Feliciano and the match was knotted at five. Feliciano reached the hill first, winning the 11th rack, but Morris tied it up for the third time and won the deciding game to claim the title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for February 22, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
