LAS VEGAS - Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., continued in his quest to win his first United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters title by maintaining his lead Tuesday after the second round of qualifying.

The USBC Hall of Famer cooled off a bit in Tuesday's second round but managed to stay in the top spot with a 10-game total of 2,435 (243.5 average). He leads a field of 283 players age 50 and older at the South Point Bowling Center.

After averaging nearly 260 in Monday's opening round, Williams got his first taste of the fresh lane conditions Tuesday. He started the second round with games of 226, 210 and 218 before closing with 259 and 224 on the 40-foot USBC Sport Bowling compliant pattern.

"I definitely would like to find something I'm more comfortable with on the fresh because a lot of the matches in match play are on fresh," said Williams, who has finished second the past two years at the Senior Masters. "I'm not terribly worried about it, but by the same token, I'd like to have a better look on the fresh."

The 47-time PBA Tour champion and three-time PBA Senior Tour champion leads fellow USBC Hall of Famer Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wis., by 12 pins heading into Wednesday's final round of qualifying.

Boresch has totaled 2,423 over the first two days and remained in second place for the second consecutive day. A day after shooting 1,221 in the first round, Boresch fired 1,202 in the second round on games of 279, 192, 256, 258 and 217.

All participants bowl 15 games of qualifying before the cut is made to the double-elimination match-play bracket. The top 63 players plus defending champion Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wis., will take part in bracket play beginning Thursday morning.

All rounds of the Senior Masters are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. To watch archived footage of the event, click here.