FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The no. 3 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team lost to no. 2 Christopher Newport 74-72 in the final seconds of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball National Championship game on Saturday night.
"Christopher Newport is a very good team, very physical, big Division III basketball team," said Head Coach
Mike Fuline. "It's the greatest year that we've ever had at Mount Union and that's all because of who we have and the kind of guys that we have assembled. We're never going to quit. We are going to continue to fight and I think that showed today until the last seconds. When you have a group like that from a coaching perspective, it's just makes it enjoyable, fulfilling. Someday, we'll look back on this year as runners-up. That'll sting, but we know now what it takes to get there. What these guys have done for our program is incredible."
The Purple Raiders (30-3) had three players score in double figures with All-American junior
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a game-high 31-point, 14-rebounds double-double. Seniors
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) and
Jeffery Mansfield (Wilmington) rounded out the Raiders double-digit scorers, scoring 16 and 11 points respectively. Parker and Gurley were both named on the All-Tournament Team.
The Captains (30-3) were led by Trey Barber who scored a team-high 25 points and Jahn Hines who added in 18 points.
Mount Union opened the game on a 14-4 run over the first eight and a half minutes of the first half. The Raiders would maintain that over the next 4:34 of game time, leading 23-11 with 6:30 remaining in the first half. Newport would slowly start chipping away at the Mount Union lead outscoring the Raiders 14-6 over the final 6:30 of the first frame, giving Mount Union just a three-point 29-26 lead heading into the halftime break.
The Raiders would open the second half on a 12-4 run, capped by back-to-back threes from senior
Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) and Mansfield to extend their lead back to nine with 16:31 to play in the game. The Captains would answer with an 8-2 run to cut the lead back down to 45-42 with twelve and a half minutes remaining in the game. Newport would then go on a 10-2 run over the next 4:17 of the game to take a 52-49 lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Captains would extend their lead to seven over the next several minutes before the Raiders would come storming back to tie the game at 72 with a layup by Parker with just four seconds left in the game. However, Barber would hit the game-winning basket for the Captains at the buzzer to give Newport the 74-72 victory.
The Raiders finished the season with a program record 30 wins, winning both the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, and advancing to the National Championship game for the first time in school history.
