Defending champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, slipped to third place with one game to go but rallied in the final game Friday night to regain his lead in the Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open at AMF Country Club Lanes. With seven games remaining this morning on the Dick Weber lane condition, however, the race for five spots on Sunday's ESPN telecast remained wide open. Malott, who entered Friday's play with a 91-pin lead over Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, escaped the Scorpion and Earl Anthony lane conditioning rounds with a 45-pin lead over Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who started the day in 13th place. Malott has averaged 230.74 for 46 games on six different lane conditions for a 10,614 total. Weber, who rolled the event's 10th 300 game Friday morning, had 10,559 pins in his bid for his first title since the 2007 U.S. Open.