Still Perfect

Kansas City, Mo. – The No. 1 ranked Columbia Cougar men’s basketball team opened up play in the 2013 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men/s Basketball National Championship with a 68-37 first round victory over Oklahoma City University on Wednesday night. Columbia, the tournament’s top overall seed, improves to 34-0 overall and remains the nation’s last remaining unbeaten team of the 2012-13 season. The Stars end the year with a record of 17-11.Both teams started slow as the score was knotted at two after three and a half minutes of play. That’s when the Cougars began an 18-1 run to take control of the contest as they led 20-3 at the 8:43 mark of the first period. Columbia continued to dominate from there, taking a 31-12 lead at the halftime break after holding Oklahoma City to 17 percent shooting in the opening frame. Senior Jordan Dressler sparked the Cougars early run with a pair of three-pointers and led all players with 12 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes.