by Lea Andrews

Keith Bennett, who last won a Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina event in January, found himself back in the winner’s circle after getting past the best in the Carolinas. The $1,000-added twelfth stop of the tour was held at Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC, the weekend of July 24-25.

The final four on the winners’ side were a fearsome bunch—all past winners—and Bennett swept past Sam Monday 7-3 to reach the hot seat match against Michael “Bulldawg” Fuller, who’d just sent last month’s winner B.J. Ussery west 7-4. Another 7-3 victory for Bennett secured him the hot seat and sent Fuller to the semifinals to try for another chance.

On the left side of the bracket, two of Bennett’s early victims were fighting for their own second chances. Jared McGee edged out Larry Faulk 7-6 and junior player Jackson “Smokey” Jeffreys 7-2 to face Ussery. Meanwhile, Hindu Williams ousted Rodney Strickland 7-4 and Arnold Hamlett 7-6 to face Monday. That was as far as McGee and Williams got, though, as they landed in fifth 7-6 and 7-5, respectively. In the quarterfinals, Monday notched another 7-5 win to earn his spot against Fuller in the semifinals, where the two battled for the right to fight Bennett once again. It was Monday who reached the goal first, while Fuller stayed behind in third 7-4.

Keith Bennett, who last won a Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina event in January, found himself back in the winner’s circle after getting past the best in the Carolinas.

In Friday’s early bird tournament, Barry Irving took home $140 for his 7-6 win in the finals over Dana Hallett, who took home $85. Hindu Williams earned $50 for third, and Sam Monday earned $25 for fourth. Jackson Jeffreys was a two-time winner this weekend, pocketing $35 for topping the break contest, and $60 for his 7-6 win in the finals of the juniors’ division over Gabe Grissom. Terry Faulk once again took the ladies’ event, and Anton Hall won a $600 limited-edition Jacoby cue in the raffle. The break and run pot went unclaimed at this event, and will move to $105 per ball at the next. In Sunday’s second chance event, Larry Faulk swept past Nolan Leonard 7-2 in the finals, earning $100, while Leonard earned $40.

Results:
1st Keith Bennett $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $500
3rd Michael Fuller $225
4th B.J. Ussery $75

by Lea Andrews

A late loss at the March 6-7 stop of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina tour did nothing to slow down Larry Nevel. “The Truth” rebounded to top the tough field that gathered at Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC, for the $1,000-added event.

After handing Nevel his 7-4 loss, Keith Bennett moved into the hot seat match against Johnny Archer, who’d just shut out Trey Greene. Archer claimed the hot seat 7-3, while Bennett moved over to semifinals. On the west side, an early victim of Nevel’s, Michael “Bulldawg” Fuller, notched a 7-4 win over Zach Wilson and a shut-out win over Greene to reach the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, another one of Nevel’s victims, Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam, who’d reached the finals in each of his three Jacoby appearances so far, found his streak come to an end at his fourth event as he faced Nevel once again. Nevel dropped Putnam into fifth 7-2 to meet back up with Fuller, and another 7-2 win put him into the semifinals against Bennett. Earning his revenge 7-3, Nevel advanced to the single race-to-11 final match.

Though Archer got out to a 3-0 and 5-1 lead, Nevel was able to take advantage of a scratch on the break and a dry break to gain momentum and tie it up at six games apiece, but when he made nothing on the break in the next rack, Archer regained the lead 7-6. It was his last lead, though. Another scratch on the break allowed Nevel to tie it up, and two more racks in a row put him on the hill 10-7. Archer marked up the next rack, but after pocketing three balls on the break in the final rack, he found himself without a shot on the 2 ball. Archer’s well-played safety left Nevel hooked, but Nevel’s unbelievable kick shot put the 2 ball in the pocket and left the path to the 9 ball open. Nevel pocketed the rest of the balls to earn his victory 11-8.

Nevel also took first in Friday’s 16-entrant early bird tournament, earning $150 for his 7-1 win in the finals over Zach Wilson, who took home $95. Hindu Williams earned $50 for third, while Kenny Chin earned $25 for fourth. Patty Sutherland won the ladies’ division on Saturday, while Caleb Grissom topped the juniors’. In Sunday’s second chance event, Kenny Chin earned $80 for edging out Barry Irving 7-6, while Irving earned $20. Karl Deweese took home $80 for beating out five others in the break contest, and CJ Genta became the owner of a new Jacoby Custom Cue after her name was drawn in the raffle.

A late loss at the March 6-7 stop of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina tour did nothing to slow down Nevel.

Results:
1st Larry Nevel $1,000
2nd Johnny Archer $400
3rd Keith Bennett $100

by Michael Andrews

Manny Chau snapped off the Team DMIRO 10-Ball Tour U.S. Open warm-up event the weekend of October 10-11, defeating Shaun Wilkie in the finals. The event was hosted by Break Time Billiards in Salisbury, MD, and featured a $2,000-added pot.

Early on in the event, Gene Albright was noticed. After playing four matches he only lost six games total, as he defeated Kenny Bruce 7-2, David Choi 7-2, Dima Kavhn 7-1, and Jason Kochenour 7-1. Albright made it to the final eight and ended up in fourth place after Wilkie defeated him 7-6 and then Shuff sent him home 7-4.

Wilkie took control of the pro side and bested Brandon Shuff 7-4 in the first round, automatically advancing to the final eight. He then defeated Albright and Chau to win the hot seat. Wilkie waited in the hot seat for Chau, who defeated Shuff 7-1 in the semifinals.

The final set was a battle in which Chau eked past Wilkie 9-8 for the title. Wilkie missed an 8 ball to win, and Chau ran that rack and won the next two in order to defeat Wilkie.

Manny Chau snapped off the Team DMIRO 10-Ball Tour U.S. Open warm-up event the weekend of October 10-11, defeating Shaun Wilkie in the finals.

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Viking Cue 9-Ball Amateur-Advanced and Amateur Tour rolled into Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC, the weekend of May 30-31, where 64 regional players participated in the $1,500-added events. Break Time Billiards, which houses a bowling alley, restaurant, and arcade as well as the billiard room, graciously added the monies for this event.

The amateur-advanced event was played on 9-foot tables, and the race was to 9. Local favorite Larry Faulk made his way through the bottom of the brackets undefeated and claimed first place after defeating Eddie Little 9-8 in the finals. Faulk had begun his trek to first by defeating Gabe Grisson 9-2, Gerry Shepard 9-2, Dennis Crandell 9-4, T. Adul-Ghani 9-7, and Zach Wilson 9-5. Little faced Zach Wilson in the semifinals, where he defeated Wilson 9-4 to advance to the finals against Faulk.

The amateur event kicked off Sunday and presented some equally matched competitors. The event was also played on 9-foot tables, but the race was 5. Jody Musselman from Virginia took home the first-place prize money. Musselman began his trek to first by defeating Caleb Grissom 5-0, Trey Greene 5-2, Irvin Brockman 5-2, and David Walker 5-3 before he was sent to the one-loss side by Tim Long 5-2. Once there Musselman faced Lupe Hernandez in the semifinals, where he won 5-3 for his shot at Tim Long in the finals. He had to defeat Long twice in the true double-elimination format. He breezed through the first set 5-2 and went hill-hill in the second to claim first place.

The Viking Cue 9-Ball Amateur-Advanced and Amateur Tour rolled into Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC, the weekend of May 30-31, where 64 regional players participated in the $1,500-added events.

Amateur-Advanced Results:
1st Larry Faulk
2nd Eddie Little
3rd Zach Wilson
4th Larry Pierce
5th Terry Faulk
T. Abdul-Ghani

Amateur Results:
1st Jody Musselman $450
2nd Tim Long $300
3rd Lupe Hernandez $170
4th Roger Williamson $100