Ussery Takes Home Two in a Row

Ussery Takes Home Two in a Row
Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Chapel, Hill, NC
by Skip Maloney
B.J. Ussery picked up his second straight tournament win of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour the weekend of April 5-6, defeating Michael Fuller 9-5 in the final at Oscar’s Q and Bar in Chapel Hill, NC. In addition to the $1,000 first-place prize in the $1,000-added event, Ussery won his second free entry fee into the Carolina Open, set for October.
The field was down to eight on Sunday morning as Ussery squared off against Leroy Bryant on the winners’ side of the bracket. Fuller, also undefeated, faced Arnold Hamlet, another previous winner on the tour. Ussery and Fuller both advanced and faced each other in the final winners’-bracket match-up. Ussery took the match 7-3 to earn the hot seat.
Meanwhile, over on the one-loss side, Eddie Little defeated David Tickle 7-5 and went on to defeat Hamlet 7-4. Cary Dunn bested Brian Overman 7-2 before falling to Leroy Bryant by the same score. Little then defeated Bryant 7-2 but lost to Fuller 7-3, securing the third place and setting up the finals rematch between Fuller and Ussery. Ussery, however, was unimpressed with Fuller’s prowess, soundly drilling him 9-5 in the final match. Fuller, who was the tour’s Player of the Year in 2005-2006 and continues to lead the field in points for this year’s award, went home with the second-place prize, having already picked up his own two entry fees to the Carolina Open with previous wins on the tour.
The tour stop featured both an eight-player early bird tournament Friday night and a four-player last chance tournament Sunday afternoon. Terry Champion took home the first-place, $100 early bird prize, defeating Chris Vollmar in the final 7-2. Peaches Fuller earned the $80 prize in the last chance final match-up on Sunday, defeating Joe Meskey 7-1.
Results:
1st B.J. Ussery
2nd Michael Fuller
3rd Eddie Little
4th Leroy Bryant
5th Cary Dunn
Arnold Hamlet
7th Brian Overman
David Tickle