No. 4 seed Westminster College (Utah) battled its way to an 80-74 victory Thursday against Evangel University (Mo.) in the first round of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.

The game featured eight ties and 10 lead changes. The final deadlock came at 61-61 when Evangel junior forward Johnathan Huskisson drilled a three-pointer with 4:12 to play. Westminster responded by scoring the next seven points to regain a 68-61 advantage with just under three minutes left. Evangel tried to rally down the stretch, but would only get as close as 73-69 after Huskisson hit the last of his five three-pointers on the afternoon with 46 seconds remaining.

Evangel wrapped up its 2009-10 season with an overall record of 20-13.