HOWELL, N.J. - The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights will not repeat as Northeast Conference Bowling champions as the No. 9 ranked and No. 3 seeded Knights were eliminated after losing their first two matches of the championship on Friday.

The championships still have never had a repeat champion. It is the first time since 2013 that the Knights have lost its first two matches of the NEC Championship.

The Knights fell to the sixth seed Cougars of Caldwell in the opening match of the qualifying round of the NEC Bowling Championships. The Cougars swept the Knights 4-0 in the best-of-seven baker match.

Caldwell used games of 203 and 193 to win the first two games of the match. Game three was a tight one throughout. Caldwell sealed the one-pin win (193-192) with strikes in the ninth and tenth frames. The Cougars then prevailed in game four by three pins -- 169-166 -- to earn the sweep. It was the second time this season that the Cougars topped the Knights -- first time was at NEC Meet 1.

In an elimination match against the No. 18 ranked and No. 5 seed St. Francis Brooklyn, who lost to LIU Brooklyn in its first match, the Knights and Terriers went the full seven games before the Terriers prevailed.

The Knights won game one 230-180 and looked to have rebounded from the loss earlier in the morning. St. Francis responded by winning games two and three to take a 2-1 lead. Fairleigh Dickinson would then win two straight of its own -- 216-159 in game four, 181-161 in game 5 -- to take a 3-2 lead and move within a win of a rematch with Caldwell in another elimination match. The Terriers then rolled a 245 in game six and a 246 in game seven to earn the win and eliminate Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights had 197 and 183 in games six and seven. 

Fairleigh Dickinson will now wait and see if they are one of the eight teams selected for the 2016 NCAA Championship, which features an eight-team field.