BREWER – MacLaughlin Truck & Trailer of Nova Scotia moved ever-so-closer to clinching the top seed in one division, while Maria’s Subs of Massachusetts maintained its lead in the other division during the third day of action at the World Team Candlepin Championships at the Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes on Thursday.

MacLaughlin Truck & Trailer went 18-6 on Thursday to improve its overall match play record in the Varney GMC division to 60-12. Park Place II of New Hampshire is second at 52-20. The Maine Heat, the top Maine team in the tournament, is third in the division at 49-23 after finishing 14-10 Thursday, while Vacationland Bowling Center of Maine went 16-8 to improve to 46-26 overall and Handi’s Rebels of New Brunswick rounded out the top five with a 45-27 record with a 14-10 performance.

Maria’s Subs went 16-8 on Thursday to build its Holiday Inn Division-leading record to 55-17. Beazley’s Bowling Center of Nova Scotia overtook Pelham/Benny Boys of Nova Scotia for second place, with Beazley’s at 50-22 after finishing 18-6 on Thursday and Pelham now 48-24 after a 12-12 performance. W.A.F.U. of Nova Scotia (18-6 on Thursday, 46-26 overall) and the New Hampshire All-Stars (12-12, 44-28) complete the division’s top five. USA East is the top Maine team in the division, sixth at 35-37 after finishing 12-12 on Thursday.

MacLaughlin, the defending champion and the winner of three of the last four world titles, has a total pinfall of 16,587, while Maria’s Subs’ total pinfall is 16,694.

Maria’s had both the team high single (729) and team high total (1,991) on Thursday.

Shawn Morrison of the Maine Heat had the day’s individual high single of 177, while Johnn Winchell of Total Chaos of New Hampshire and Massachusetts had the top individual series of 463.

John Lang of Maria’s Subs has the high individual average of 127.64, followed by Chris Sargent of USA East (127.39), Gary Santora of the New Hampshire All-Stars (127.29) and Brian Bernatchez of Handi’s Rebels (127.25).

Match play concludes Friday morning before the top five teams in each 12-team division advance to the playoffs during the afternoon. The No. 1 team in each division earns a bye to the semifinals, thus surpassing two playoff rounds.