CENTREVILLE, Va. – On a night where surviving the grind was the story, AJ Johnson, Nicholas Pate, Tom Smallwood and Brad Miller moved on at the 2020 PBA Playoffs.

In the closest match of the night, Pate took down Darren Tang, 207-202, in the second group of Round of 24 matches at Bowlero Centreville.

Tang actually started with the front three but that was as good as it got for him as he left a 7-10 split in the fourth frame and struggled down the stretch.

Pate, meanwhile, survived by making the 1-2-10 washout in the first frame and staying clean. By the time the 10^th frame rolled around, Pate needed eight, spare, eight to advance and got a strike and count to get the job done. Pate will face Kyle Troup in the Round of 16

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The show opened with Johnson taking a blowout win against Kyle Sherman, 223-166, as he advanced to face Bill O’Neill in the Round of 16. Johnson’s 223 would end up being the highest score of the night by any player.

Johnson struck on four of his first five shots to build a 34-pin lead and rolled to the victory. Sherman struggled throughout, missing the headpin to the right lane on four consecutive shots.

Smallwood, who will take on EJ Tackett in the Round of 16, built a big early lead and was able to roll past Chris Barnes, 215-180.

Smallwood started with three consecutive strikes, while Barnes looked completely lost through the first five frames to fall behind by 45 pins.

Among Barnes’ miscues was a 4-6-7 split in the second frame and a chopped 3-6-10 in the fifth frame.

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After his impressive performance in the PBA Chameleon Championship, Miller used that momentum to defeat Tom Daugherty, 215-195, as he advanced to face Jesper Svensson in the Round of 16.

Miller started with the front four and built a 42-pin lead but made some mistakes in the mid-section of the game. He left and missed the 3-4-6-7 split in the fifth and chopped the 2-4-5 in the eighth.

In the 10^th frame, however, Miller delivered the goods. Needing a double and two pins, Miller struck out, including a trip four pin on his first shot.

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The next PBA Playoffs show will air Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on FS1 (United States) and FloBowling (international).