In an epic battle of hall of famers, Walter Ray Williams Jr. took down Norm Duke, 259-237, to win the PBA50 Storm Invitational on Sunday in Shallotte, North Carolina.

The special event, which was broadcast live on FloBowling, showcased the best bowlers this season on the PBA50 Tour. Although a PBA50 Tour title was not awarded at the event, it did feature a first-place prize of $10,000.

Duke, the top seed for the stepladder finals, opened the championship match with four consecutive strikes to take the early lead. In the fifth frame, however, he went a little high and left a nine pin, which he shockingly missed to the left.

Like a true bowling legend, Williams stepped up and threw a pair of perfect strikes following Duke’s open to take maximum advantage of the opportunity. That sequence proved to be a key factor in the match.

“Norm bowled awesome this weekend, but I was fortunate I bowled a better game than him,” Williams said. “I can’t remember the last time he missed a single pin spare and that gave me a little opening. It’s always awesome to win. It never gets old.”

Duke did have a chance to rally in the eighth frame with a strike for a double that would have cut his deficit from 12 pins to two pins, but he left a 10 pin.

Williams then stepped up and closed out the match with nothing but strikes in the ninth and 10^th frames to secure the win and the big payday.

In the semifinal, Williams struck on six of his first seven shots to build an early lead and defeat Ryan Shafer, 256-212.

Shafer started the match with four consecutive spares before rallying with three consecutive strikes. His string, however, came to an end with a wobbling 10 pin in the eighth frame. A high shot that left the six pin in the ninth frame all but sealed his fate.

Williams, meanwhile, threw 10 strikes in the game with spares coming in the third and eighth frames on shots he pitched out too far right. Those errors turned out to not matter, however, as Williams closed with four in a row to secure the win.

Shafer advanced to the semifinal by defeating Lennie Boresch Jr., 257-222, in the second match of the stepladder finals.

Finishing the match first, Shafer needed a strike and count for the shutout and delivered a high, hard strike on his first shot. He followed it up with another strike to move on.

In opening match of the stepladder finals, Boresch defeated PBA50 Player of the Year Michael Haugen Jr., 225-207, in another match that came down to the final frame.

Haugen had a chance to shutout Boresch in the final frame but left a seven pin on his first shot to open the door. Needing a strike on the first shot in the 10th, Boresch delivered a perfect one to advance.