By Eric Montgomery | NAIA Media Relations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box Score) No. 8-seeded Martin Methodist (Tenn.) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship on Friday evening with a 73-59 win over Cumberlands (Ky.). The Patriots will face the winner of No. 1-seeded Hope International (Calif.) and Montana Western on Saturday, March 20 at 4:00 p.m.

Dacoby Burnett came off the bench to lead the RedHawks in scoring with 18 points, hitting four of six three-point shots and six of nine attempts overall. Darius Forrest tallied 12 points, Darius Woods posted 11 points, and Monte Burney provided 10 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“This was a terrific win against a very solid team from an outstanding conference,” said Martin Methodist head coach Scott Combs. “Our defense was locked in virtually the entire night, but we couldn’t make shots early and struggled to get separation. Once we finally started getting the offense going, things got a little easier and we were able to pull away down the stretch.”

Martin Methodist set the tone for the game with its defense and its care of its offensive possessions. The RedHawks held the Patriots to just 34.5 percent shooting (20 of 58), including five of 21 three-point shots (.238), and committed just seven turnovers while forcing 15 takeaways. The Patriots posted a 43-35 rebounding advantage, but managed just 10 second chance points off of 13 offensive rebounds.

Cumberlands held the lead for the opening quarter of the game, holding a six-point advantage at the 13:33 mark after a three-pointer by Xavier Owens. Martin Methodist responded with six-straight points to tie the game, but did not take until Reginald Porter scored with 8:57 until halftime.

The RedHawks never trailed from that point forward, posting a 34-29 halftime advantage before pushing the lead out to 14 points. Sitting on a 45-40 lead with 13:15 to play, Burnett hit three-straight three-point shots to provide all of the offense in a 9-0 run for a 54-40 advantage. The Patriots got within nine points with 6:09 to play, but the lead remained in double digits the rest of the way.

“The games takes on a totally different complexion if we could just make a shot,” said Cumberlands head coach Donnie Butcher. “Once (Martin Methodist) got some separation, they didn’t have to play with any clock pressure and the game became easy for them."

Owens led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 13 rebounds for Cumberlands. Tony Bradley added 14 points and four rebounds, but no other player had more than seven points.

Cumberlands finished its season with a record of 23-10.

Game Notes:
Martin Methodist – The RedHawks advanced to the quarterfinal round for the second time in program history and first time since 2011 … Martin Methodist committed a season-low for turnovers, but also recorded a season-low with eight assists … The RedHawks improved to 3-1 this season against teams from Kentucky … Martin Methodist improved to 9-8 all-time in the National Championship and 2-4 in the second round.

Cumberlands – The Patriots dropped to 23-36 all-time in the tournament, falling in the second round for the second-straight season … Bradley scored in double figures for the 16th-straight game this season … Cumberlands was held 10 points below its season scoring average of 69.3 points … Owens posted season-highs in scoring and rebounding, matching his total on the boards from March 7, 2015 against Pikeville (Ky.).