By: Courtesy NAIA

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Hope International jumped on Indiana Wesleyan early before holding off a late charge by the Wildcats to earn a 71-65 victory in their Round of 16 Game Thursday afternoon at the 88th annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.

Hope International (26-6) will now take on GSAC rival Benedictine Mesa (27-6) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon CT. Benedictine Mesa advanced earlier Thursday with a 96-88 double-overtime win over Faulkner in a Round of 16 matchup. Hope International and Benedictine Mesa met twice in the regular season, with the Royals sweeping the season series. Hope International beat the Redhawks, 84-75, in Fullerton, Calif., on Jan. 10, then beat the Redhawks, 83-66, at Mesa, Ariz. on February 7.

Hope International - the No. 3 seed from the Cramer Quadrant - scored the game's first nine points and took advantage of a cold-shooting Indiana Wesleyan team to build a 20-8 lead with 7:29 to go before halftime after Nick Hopkins made a pair of free throws. The second-seeded Wildcats found their footing later on in the half, though, and outscored Hope International 17-7 over the final 7:29 to close to within 27-25 at the break.

Hopkins led the Royals with 11 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Hope International was 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from the field in the opening half, but made just two of its 12 3-point shots (16.7 percent).

Meanwhile, Indiana Wesleyan was paced by Kevin Sacas, who had eight points and three rebounds. D.J. Moore added six for the Wildcats, who went 7-for-25 (28 percent) shooting in the first half, making 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range.

Hope International opened the second half with a 15-1 burst - including a 10-0 run - to open up a 42-26 lead over Indiana Wesleyan. However, the Wildcats - who have won three national titles previously - showed their mettle by slowly cutting into the Royals' lead over the next 14 minutes. Still down 67-58 with 2:11 to go after a basket by Hopkins, Indiana Wesleyan scored seven straight points to close to within 67-65 with 1:01 to go in the game.

However, the Royals got a defensive stop when they needed it, and Addy G'Bye drilled a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, and Hope International forced another Wildcat turnover to seal the win and advance into an all-GSAC quarterfinal matchup with Benedictine Mesa.

Hopkins finished with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals to lead Hope International. Darvelle Wyatt had 16, and C.J. Fisher added 12 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists for the Royals, who are making their 12th National Tournament appearance.

Caedmon Bontrager led Indiana Wesleyan with 18 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Sacas had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Moore tossed in 12 points, seven assists, and two steals for the Wildcats in the loss.