By Eric Montgomery | NAIA Media Relations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- (Box Scores) Stephen McCall scored a tournament-high 36 points to lead Montana Western to a 80-77 win over No. 16-seeded Benedictine (Kan.), Wednesday evening in the first round action of the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship in Municipal Auditorium. The Bulldogs will take on No. 1-seeded Hope International, which knocked off Philander Smith (Ark.) in its first round game, on Friday, March 20 at 6:15 p.m.

McCall hit all 15 of his free throw attempts and hit nine of 13 three-point attempts to record the most points by a player in this year’s national championship. Dexter Williams Jr. was also perfect at the charity stripe, hitting seven attempts on the way to 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

“Stephen McCall put us on his back again,” said Montana Western head coach Steve Keller. “We’ve played team ball all year long and we don’t quit. This was the most physical we’ve played all year long. I’m proud of how my team responded.”

Montana Western (23-9) survived an early barrage of three-pointers by Benedictine, which connected on six of its first nine long-range attempts in the first half on the way to a 27-13 lead. The Bulldogs scored the next 11 points and finished the half by outscoring the Ravens, 30-12, taking a 43-39 lead into halftime.

Benedictine grabbed the early momentum after intermission with seven-straight points after an early bucket by McCall to regain a one-point advantage. Montana Western regained control with a 15-4 run, capped off by a three-point play by McCall to claim a 60-50 advantage with 12:06 remaining.

The Ravens chipped away at the deficit, closing within a point on three occasions that included a 71-70 scoreline with 3:25 to play. McCall proved to be too much down the stretch, scoring four-straight points as part of a 7-0 spurt to put the game away.

Montana Western shot 57.1 percent in the first half (16 of 28) to finish the game 24 of 49 (.490) from the field. Benedictine cooled off from three-point range after its hot start, making four of its final 21 attempts to finish 10 of 30 from beyond the arc.

“We had planned on using our zone a little more, but they had a great plan against out zone,” said Benedictine head coach Ryan Moody. “They were able to knock down a few threes and then we worry about the three-point line and we weren’t able to help as much against McCall. It kind of game him free reign and he’s really a special player.”

John Harris Jr. led the way for the Ravens with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists. Connor Fleming came off the bench to post 13 points, while Brett Fisher and Jake Schannuth each hit a trio of three-point shots to tally nine points apiece.

Benedictine finishes its season with a record of 24-9.

Game Notes:
Montana Western – The Bulldogs captured a first round win for the third-straight appearance in the national championship (2012, 2013) and fifth time in the last six trips … Montana Western scored at least 80 points for the 20th time this season, improving to 16-4 in those contests … McCall eclipsed the 30-point mark for the third time this season, besting his previous high off 33 points scored on two occasions … Montana Western had won its last four first round games by an average of 2.8 points, including two games that went into overtime.

Benedictine – The Ravens fell to 5-4 all-time in the first round of the tournament and 13-8 overall in the national championship … Benedictine allowed at least 80 points for just the fourth time this season, falling to 2-2 in those contests … The 24 wins was the fourth-most in program history and back-to-back 20-win campaigns … Jallen Messersmith finished his four-year career with 220 blocked shots, including 148 over the past two seasons.