Larry Nevel
Larry “The Truth” Nevel got by Earl “The Pearl” Strickland twice to go undefeated and take first place in the Central Carolina 9-Ball Classic on Saturday, May 1st. The $1,500-added (by room owner Don Liebes) event drew 33 entrants to Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Nevel and Strickland met first among the winners' side final four, where a 7-4 Nevel victory put him in the hot seat match versus Tony Morrison. Morrison had just sent Rocky Hawk west 7-1 (the Hawk/Morrison matchup, in recognition of Morrison's nickname of “Mike Tyson” was announced as “Mike Tyson against Rocky Balboa in Ring # 11). Nevel sent Morrison to the semifinals with a 7-3 win that left him in the hot seat.
On the one-loss side, B.J. Ussery and Keith Bennett were making their way toward Strickland and Hawk; Ussery with wins over Barry Lacy 7-1 and Thomas Sansone 7-4, Bennett with victories over Jody Musselman 7-4 and a hill-hill battle versus Adam Stanton. Strickland and Bennett moved into the quarterfinals with identical 7-3 victories over Ussery and Hawk, respectively. Strickland chalked up another 7-3 win, this time over Bennett, to get into the semifinals against Morrison.
Morrison got a step closer than Strickland's previous two opponents, but a 7-4 win gave “The Pearl” his second chance against Nevel. Nevel, though, according to Liebes, played a “flawless' final match, getting out to an early 3-0 lead and stretching it to six games by the 9-3 finish.
