RENO, Nev. - Derek Magno of Cicero, N.Y., and Joe Conti Jr. of Liverpool, N.Y., bowled together at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships for the first time last year in Baton Rouge, La., and definitely were happy with their performance.

The duo joined forces again for the 2013 event at the National Bowling Stadium and worked their way into a tie for the lead in Regular Doubles with a 1,403 total on Monday. Chris Greene and Joe Keltner of Wichita, Kan., who are 2008 Regular Team champions, shot 1,403 on March 23.

Magno, a 33-year-old right-hander, led the way with a 752 set, and Conti, a 28-year-old right-hander, added 651. Last year, they shot 1,317 and just missed the top 100.

Magno and Conti have been bowling together at home for years, and knowing each other's strengths translated to success on the championship lanes.

"I think playing straight helped us," said Conti, who made his eighth USBC Open Championships appearance. "We worked the same part of the lane towards the outside. Our moves were very small to the left, and we just executed really good shots. Knowing each other's games helped a lot, too. He told me to make a move left after the first game because I was too far right and missed the move. As soon as he said that, I went 220-230 and was able to hold my own."

After a slow start in team, the two took advantage of the shorter doubles and singles oil pattern. This marks the first time in history there are two different lane conditions at the Open Championships. The team pattern is 41 feet, and the doubles/singles pattern is 39 feet.

Although the two knew they were approaching the leading doubles total, they didn't know for sure until the final score appeared on the scoreboard.

"We had an idea of what we wanted to do and where we wanted to play, and it just ended up working a little better today than it did yesterday," said Magno, who made his 10th Open Championships appearance. "We pretty much had the same game plan for both days. We just opened them up and executed better today. We kind of knew at the end that we were close, and I actually thought we were going to miss it by a pin."

Magno added 732 in singles and 555 in team for career-high 2,039 all-events total, which is just outside of the top 10. Conti, the 2009 Storm Bowlers Journal Championships Open Singles champion, rolled 658 in team and 591 in singles for 1,900. Two-time champion John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Fla., leads Regular All-Events with 2,169.

Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.