By Eric Montgomery | NAIA Media Coordinator

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box Score) No. 3-seeded Life (Ga.) claimed the first spot in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship with a 80-78 win over second-seeded Hope International (Calif.), Friday morning at Municipal Auditorium. The Eagles will play the winner of No. 1-seeded Carroll (Mont.) and No. 4-seeded SAGU (Texas) on Saturday, March 18 at 12:00 p.m. CST

Dalarian Williams and Jonathan Beausejour each scored 20 points and combined for 12 rebounds to lead the way for Life (24-10). Mike Miller and Courtney Warren each chipped in with 12 points, with Warren grabbing six rebounds.

"There's no feeling like advancing in this tournament, seeing your name advance across the board," said Life head coach Keith Adkins. "We played well in the first part of the first half, but were a no-show in the late stages of the half. We had no urgency or desperation, but we talked about that at halftime. We came out in the second half and the guys showed nothing but urgency, desperation and a whole lot of heart.”

Life was the early aggressor in the opening game of the day, jumping out to a nine-point advantage at the 10:58 mark on a three-pointer by Warren. A transition bucket by David Scott maintained the nine-point cushion before Hope International turned the half around in its favor.

Charles Trotter hit a three-pointer with 8:26 until halftime, the first basket in a 17-0 run over 5:57 that provided an eight-point Hope International advantage. Zach Landis ended the drought with a three-pointer, but Hope International took a four-point lead into the break.

The Royals doubled the halftime advantage at the 12:54 mark after a bucket by Daniel Young, the largest margin the team would enjoy in the second half. A pair of three-pointers by Beausejour were key in a 13-5 run that tied the game for the first of five times in the second half, 55-55.

Young hit one of two free throws to tie the game for the final time, 68-68, with 3:43 to play before Warren hit a pair of his own at the stripe to push Life in front for good. Life hit 12 of 14 free throws in the final 3:05 to hold off any comeback efforts.

“I’m real proud of the guys for the season they had," said Hope International head coach Bill Czech. “This is a special group of guys. They have represented our team and our school in the most positive way at all times. Tip your hat to Life. They just got us, they’ve been on an unbelievable tear since February and are underrated.”

Josh Smith led all scorers with 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals for Hope International. Daniel Young flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 17 points, 15 rebounds and a school-record eight blocked shots, while Devin Greene added 16 points and Donny Punter poured in 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Hope International finished its season with a record of 26-8.

Game Notes:
Hope International
Hope International made its fifth national championship tournament appearance on Wednesday in the first round… The Royals are 14-2 in the last 16 games entering Friday’s contest… The Royals have now fallen in the second round three times in school history… Golden State Athletic Conference teams are now 3-2 in the 2017 national championship…The Royals fell to 6-5 overall in the national championship …Hope International entered the national championship leading the NAIA in three-point field goal defense (.278), today Life shot at a 52.4 clip… Devin Green knocked down a season-high 23 points… Josh Smith reached double-figures for the fifth-consecutive contest… Daniel Young pulled down 10+ rebounds for just the eighth time this season – completing his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points.…Young tabbed the most blocks in the tournament so far with eight -- he tops Dillard’s (La.) Jalen McGaughy’s five-block performance in the opening round win over Oklahoma City… Issac Douglas’ triple with 12 seconds left brought the score to within one point and it was the first three-pointer since Feb. 22, 2017 and just his second in eight games… Liam Hunt, Hope’s top scorer… was limited to zero points for the second time this season… HIU shot 0.543 percent in the first game of the tournament – today the Royals were limited to 0.400… Hope has now played in two out of the three 2017 tournament games decided by two points.

Life
Life's opening-round victory against Martin Methodist (Tenn.) on Wednesday snapped a string of seven first-round losses dating back to 2001...The Running Eagles are making their 16th appearance at the National Championship, including their seventh in the last nine years...Life is now 24-12 all-time in the event… With the win, the Running Eagles advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2000, when Life won the most recent of its three national championships...Life is one of four Mid-South Conference teams in the championship and one of three - along with Georgetown (Ky.) and Pikeville (Ky.) - to advance to the second round...Mid-South Conference teams are now 4-1 this year...The Running Eagles were only 24 of 59 (40.7 percent) from the field, but made 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) from 3-point range and were 13 of 38 (34.2 percent) on their two-point shots... Dalarian Williams scored 20-plus points for the 20th time this season and reached double figures for the 32nd time in 34 games...Zach Landis only had three points, but had seven rebounds and a team-high five assists and two steals.

Tournament Notes:
Attendance after two days stands at 19,067, nearly 2,500 than last year after two days (2016: 16,677)… Thursday night’s attendance of 5,737 was largest Thursday night session attendance since 2010… First Round: Higher seeds won all games except for No. 5 Westmont (Calif.) defeating No. 4 William Carey (Miss.), 74-60, and No. 6 Langston (Okla.) upsetting No. 3 Biola (Calif.), 78-76… The Golden State Athletic Conference has five schools in the National Championship Tournament: Biola, Hope International (Calif.), Montana Western, The Master’s (Calif.), and Westmont (Calif.) – all except Biola advanced to second round…. Hope had a 15-0 run spanning 6:08 to take the lead to 34-26… Life’s Courtney Warren broke drought at 2:22 mark with a three-pointer… Hope bench scored 46 points to just 17 by Life… Hope blocked 10 shots, including eight by Daniel Young… Life outscored Hope 46-42 in the second half for the 80-78 victory.