FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Trey Barber scored 25 points — including a driving layup as time expired — and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jahn Hines scored 18 points and Christopher Newport beat Mount Union 74-72 Saturday to win the first NCAA Division III championship in program history.
The Captains (30-3) ended their season with a 15-game win streak, dating to a 64-59 loss to then-No. 2 Randolph-Macon College — the defending national champion — on Jan. 11.
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Barber was 10-of-15 shooting and had his eighth double-double of the season. Caleb Furr tied his career-high with four 3-pointers on as many attempts to finish with 12 points and Matthew Brodie also scored 12 points for Christopher Newport.
Christian Parker scored 10 points in a 12-4 run that culminated with when his layup with 17 seconds left gave Mount Union a 70-69 lead. Ty Henderson converted a three-point play four seconds later to put the Captains back in front by two points, Parker scored inside to make it 72-all with 4.2 seconds left but Barber took the inbounds pass, calmy worked the ball up the court and drove the right side of the lane before he kissed a contested buzzer-beater off the glass.
Parker scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds with two steals and two blocks for the Purple Raiders.
Mount Union’s Jeffery Mansfield hit a 3-pointer to make it 54-all with 6:51 to play but Furr answered with a corner 3 just 12 seconds later and, after Parker scored inside to pull the Purple Raiders back within a point, Furr made another from behind the arc to give Christopher Newport a 60-56 advantage with six minutes to play.
No. 3 Mount Union (30-3), which made its first national championship appearance in program history, had its 14-game win streak snapped and lost for the first time since a 74-72 defeat at then-No. 8 John Carroll on Jan. 25.
Darrell Newsom hit a 3-pointer that gave Mount Union a 26-12 lead with five minutes left in the first half but the Captains scored 14 of the next 17 points to trim their deficit to three points at the break.
Christopher Newport improved to 9-0 this season when behind at halftime. The Captains, who shot just 20.1% from the field and made 2 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half, hit 19 of 37 from the floor (4 of 7 from behind the arc) after intermission.