Columbia College won 58-52 over Montana State-Northern on Wednesday evening in the opening round of the 2012 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Junior forward Jordan Dressler scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Columbia, which advances to the quarterfinal round to take on No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist on Friday at 6:15 p.m. CDT.
“We kept talking to our team about being stubborn,” said Columbia head coach Bob Burchard. “It seemed like we were down one for an eternity. We had four or five cracks at it and didn’t get on top. At no point in time did (our kids) put their chin on their chest. They just hung in there and were really stubborn. Jordan had a great game. I thought he and Henrique really showed what they have together. They really played together.”