The Mount Union men's basketball team fell short against Christopher Newport in the NCAA Division III National Championship on a last second shot at the buzzer, 74-72.

The Purple Raiders were seeking their first men's basketball championship in program history.

They had three players score in double figures in the loss lead by Christian Parker with 31 points and 14 rebounds.

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 opened the second half on a 12-4 run, capped by back-to-back threes from senior Darrell Newsom and Jefferey 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 extended their lead to seven over the next several minutes before the Raiders came storming back to tie the game at 72 with a layup by Parker with just four seconds left in the game.

However, Trey Barber 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.