KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hope International concluded one of the most successful seasons in program history with a 86-75 setback against Benedictine Mesa in the NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium.
The third-seeded Royals finished the campaign 26-7 overall. It was the second-furthest run HIU made in its NAIA postseason history.
It has been said that defeating an opponent three times in one season is extremely difficult, and that proved to be the case in America's Heartland. The Royals toppled the Redhawks 84-75 at home on January 10 and 83-66 in Mesa, Ariz. on February 7.
HIU took a season-high 46 three-point attempts – 11 more than their previous high – and connected on 15 of them. The 15 makes represented the second-highest total of the season.
The Royals also fired off 20 more shots than the Redhawks, finishing 35.1 (27 of 77) percent overall from the field.
The difference?
BENU, the No. 8 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, hit at a 52.6 (30 of 57) percent clip, including 62.5 (15 of 24) percent in the second half. The Redhawks sank 13 triples on just 23 attempts – 56.5 percent.
BENU got double-digit points from six different players, led by Isaiah Howard with 23. Howard was dominant in all facets as he pulled down 14 rebounds and added five assists.
Both Howard and Damian Zivak canned four triples apiece.
Addy G'Bye led the Royals with 17 points, hitting four three-pointers to go along with three steals. Jorren Edmonds chipped in 16 points, also knocking down four triples. The junior point guard continued to take great care of the ball, dishing out four assists with no turnovers in 37 minutes.
Finishing his outstanding HIU career was Nick Hopkins, who had 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
CJ Fisher also concluded his Royals career with nine points, nine rebounds and two steals.
HIU pulled down 20 offensive rebounds but lost the overall battle 43-38 to BENU.
Trailing 39-35 at halftime, HIU came out firing away as three-pointers from G'Bye and Fisher gave the Royals a 41-39 lead.
But the Redhawks responded with two triples from Eric Blackwell and another from Zivak to open up a 50-43 advantage. Howard hit a three to give BENU a 66-56 lead with 8:55 to go.
BENU (28-6) shot 60.0 (6 of 10) from distance in the second half. Following three straight layups by Luis Marin, the Redhawks turned to the three-point shot as Howard drained two more. Zivak hit another trey as well, which put the Royals in a 74-61 hole with 5:35 remaining.
The Royals tried to claw back, trimming the deficit to 74-67 on a Hopkins layup at the 4:27 mark. But the Royals made just 3 of their last 14 shots.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Edmonds and G'Bye handed HIU a 21-14 lead in the first half. JD Davis came off the bench and hoisted up a pair of three-point makes to extend the HIU lead to 27-19 at the 7:42 mark.
But the Redhawks outscored the Royals 20-8 over the remainder of the half, knocking down 4 of their last 6 three-point attempts.
The 26 victories tie for the second-most in the Bill Czech era.
Fellow GSAC member BENU advances to the NAIA Fab Four against No. 1 seed Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) on Monday, March 23.
