By: Courtesy NAIA

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In one fell swoop, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) avenged two regular-season losses to a GSAC rival and punched its ticket to the Fab Four with an 86-75 victory over Hope International (Calif.) in a quarterfinal game of the 88th annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Saturday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.

With the win, the eighth-seeded Redhawks (28-6) knocked off a third-seeded Hope International team that had swept a pair of games against Benedictine Mesa earlier in the year. Hope International had beaten the Redhawks, 84-75, in Fullerton, Calif., on Jan. 10, and 83-66 in Mesa, Ariz., on Feb. 7.

Benedictine Mesa now faces either Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (32-1) or Arizona Christian (25-7) in the Fab Four on Monday at 5 p.m. CT. Freed-Hardeman and Arizona Christian played their quarterfinal game later Saturday afternoon.

There was little to separate the two teams in the early going of the opening half. After a relatively quiet first 10 minutes, Hope International opened up a 27-19 advantage with 7:42 to go before halftime, but Benedictine Mesa went on a 20-5 run over a span of 6:36 to not only erase the deficit but take a 39-32 lead over the Royals with 1:06 left in the half. However, Hope International got a 3-pointer from Darvelle Wyatt to close out the half to get the Royals back to within 39-35 at halftime.

Khari Dunn led the Redhawks with 13 points and four rebounds, and Isaiah Howard had eight points and six rebounds as Benedictine Mesa shot 15-for-33 (45.5 percent) from the field overall and 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) on 3-pointers in the first half.

Hope International had a balanced offensive attack, with four players scoring five points or more in the opening 20 minutes. Addy G'Bye led the way with eight points and three rebounds, Jorren Edmonds netted seven points, J.D. Davis came off the bench to score six, and Wyatt tossed in five for the Royals, who were 13-for-32 (40.6 percent) overall and 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from 3-point range.

Hope International (26-7) led 41-39 early in the second half after back-to-back 3-pointers, but Benedictine Mesa quickly retook the lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Eric Blackwell, and the Redhawks slowly pulled away from the Royals. Hope International was still within seven at 74-67 after a layup by Nick Hopkins with 4:27 remaining, but consecutive baskets by Howard and Malik Payton pushed Benedictine Mesa's lead back out to 11 at 78-67, and the Redhawks cruised from there.

Benedictine Mesa - which hit 13 of its 23 3-point attempts (56.5 percent) - had six players reach double figures. Howard led the way with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. Dunn had 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Damian Zivak tossed in 13, and Blackwell had 11 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Payton chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, and Luis Marin scored 10 and grabbed five rebounds for the Redhawks.

G'Bye finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and three steals to pace Hope International's scoring. Edmonds had 16 points, four rebounds, and three steals, and Hopkins chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. The Royals had two other players (C.J. Fisher and Davis) score nine, and Aman Haynes had eight as well for Hope International in the loss.