THE Highlands Lions took on Bateau Bay Thunder in round three of the NSW State Tenpin Bowling League (STBL) on Sunday.

With 114 points on offer, the Lions had a narrow heart-breaking three point loss, going down 58.5 to 55.5.

Bateau Bay took out the singles format 21-17 and triples by 18-16, while the Lions took out the doubles format 22.5 to 15.5.

Highland Lions captain Luke Hannon said he was pleased and encouraged by his side's improved performance.

"We are getting better each round," he said.

"We have improved our team average by seven pins since we started, plus our pinfall is increasing as well."

Hannon said it was a tight match played at Highlands Tenpin.

"We had kept the pressure on the opposition for the entire day and were leading in points and pinfall going into the last triples match of the day," he said.

"But Wade Faber from Bateau Bay bowled a 267 in the last game to clinch victory for the visitors."

There was very little between the two teams.

The Highlands team average was 183, while Bateau Bay's average was 184.

There was only a 40 pins difference over the 132 games played.

Stuart Stirling and John Velo won the most points for the Highlands with 10.

Hannon led from the front again, having the highest pinfall (193 average over 11 games), plus rolling the team's highest score with a 237.

The Lions will next play on March 15 at Mittagong against last year's STBL runners-up, the Campbelltown Crocs.