In one of the highest scoring championship matches in PBA50 Tour history, Joel Carlson survived overtime against Ron Mohr to win the PBA50 Hamilton Lanes & Entertainment Center Open in Trenton, New Jersey.

Carlson and Mohr tied at 279-279 to end regulation but in the sudden-death one-ball overtime, Mohr went first and left the 4-7. Needing just nine or better, Carlson delivered a strike to claim his first career PBA50 Tour title.

The championship match was a strikefest as both players combined for 21 strikes to tie at 279. Mohr, finishing the match first, had a chance to secure the title after starting with the front nine. On his first shot in the 10^th frame, he left a 10 pin to give Carlson a chance.

After Mohr struck on his fill ball, Carlson needed all three strikes in the final frame to force overtime. He got the first two and used a messenger to take out the 10 pin on his final shot to earn the tie.

In overtime, Mohr delivered his worst shot of the match as the ball sailed high through the face and left the 4-7. Like he had done 11 times previously, Carlson stepped up and struck for the title.

Carlson struck on his first seven shots in the match to keep pace with Mohr but left a seven pin in the eighth frame to end his string. It ended up being Carlson’s only miss of the match.

The title bout had combined total of 558 in regulation, making it one of the highest scoring PBA50 Tour championship matches of all time, but it was not the highest.

That distinction belongs to Amleto Monacelli and Chris Warren at the 2017 PBA50 event in Brentwood, California, in which Monacelli won 296-280 for a 576 combined total.

In the semifinal, Carlson defeated 2018 PBA50 Player of the Year Michael Haugen Jr., 268-248, in a high-scoring match.

Carlson started with the front five before leaving a high four pin, while Haugen started with a pair of spares and kept the match close with six strikes in a row.

In the final frame, Haugen could have struck out to put the pressure on Carlson. He struck on his first shot but left the 6-10 on his second shot. Carlson, just needing a mark, carried a high hit for a strike to advance.

Carlson took down PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III in the second match of the stepladder, 227-182

Bohn had a chance to put some pressure on Carlson down the stretch but in the ninth frame, his shot went high and left the 4-6 split ending his chances. In true showmanship form, Bohn used two balls to convert the split, but the shot didn’t count.

Bohn got off to a hot start in the opening match of the stepladder and blew past non-PBA member Chris Viale, 268-173.

After starting out with a spare, Bohn rattled off four consecutive strikes to build a 23 pin after five frames. After converting the 3-7 split in the sixth frame, Bohn went off the sheet. Viale started the match with an open in the first and opened again in the eighth.

The PBA50 Tour takes a three-week break and resumes starting May 26 with the PBA50 Northern California Classic presented by MOTIV live on FloBowling.