LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. triumphed over PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla. in a thrilling title match that went down to the final shot to win the Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah Championship by a score of 238-237 at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The victory is McCune’s second PBA title, but the first that he had the chance to win in front of his father, PBA Hall of Famer Don McCune.

“I’m glad I had my shoes tied, because otherwise I might have jumped right out of them,” the 74-year-old said after the match.

He was not the only one ready to jump out of his shoes after McCune stepped up to throw his final shot of the tenth frame, needing a strike to win. A nine count would have forced the match into a roll off with a 237-237 tie, and anything less would have been a loser.

But just as McCune was about to throw his shot, an announcement on the public address system in the bowling center interrupted him. McCune put his ball down, stepped away from the ball return, and laughed it off.

“Did someone get that phone call?” he joked as the crowd chuckled.

"Take your time, baby, take your time," his father said out loud as McCune composed himself for one of the most important shots of his life.

If the false start bothered him at all he certainly didn’t show it, as McCune gathered himself and threw one of his finest balls of the match for a bruising strike to take the title, running out the shot as he shouted and pumped his fist.

“You know, maybe I wasn’t even ready to throw it,” McCune reflected afterward. “I heard the announcement and I think it might actually have helped me because I stepped away, calmed down, told myself not to worry about the shot clock and then collected myself and just threw it. I wasn’t nervous at all. I just figured this is what you do, you know, and I just threw that ball so good it was unreal.”

McCune put on a dominating performance on the Cheetah pattern this week when he trounced the PBA’s all-time nine-game scoring record in match play, averaging 274 with scores of 300, 253, 275, 279, 279, 279, 236, 300 and 267 to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals.

Duke defeated two-time PBA titlist Michael Haugen Jr. of Carefree, Ariz., 269-247, to face Ritchie Allen in the semifinal match. Despite a torrid scoring pace on the Cheetah pattern throughout qualifying and match play, scores took a dive in the semifinal round of the stepladder finals, with Allen and Duke both leaving several open frames. But Duke closed his game with seven strikes in a row to outlast Allen by a score of 229-192.

In the opening match, Haugen defeated Lonnie Waliczek of Wichita, Kan., 248-228. Waliczek slammed the pocket throughout the match but left several blow-out seven pins that ultimately proved to be his demise.

McCune takes home a $15,000 check for his victory, while Norm Duke continues his quest for his 34th title, which would tie him with Mark Roth on the all-time PBA title list.