UNIONTOWN, Pa. — The Concordia College Alabama Hornets left the United States Collegiate Athletic Association tournament with numerous individual accomplishments and a postseason run that took them all the way to the final game.

In the national championship game in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Concordia (16-13) couldn’t close the deal against the Oakwood University Ambassadors (17-11), as the Hornets lost 80-65. Concordia led at halftime and only trailed by three points with just over two minutes left in the game, but Oakwood ended the game on a 12-0 run to claim the USCAA title.

Despite the loss, two Concordia players — Shaquille Duncan and Kendrick Atwood — were named to the all-tournament team. Duncan led all scorers in the national championship game with 24 and averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in the three tournament games.

Atwood averaged 15 points throughout the tournament, including a 23-point performance in the national title game.

In addition, Jamie Washington was named the USCAA player of the year. Concordia head coach Fredrick Summers said the team has improved this season, giving him optimism for the future.

“It shows that our program is growing,” Summers said. “We’ve been there the last three years in the national tournament and each year, we’ve advanced. So it shows that the program is growing.”

Concordia was down 4-0 just over a minute into the game, but an 11-0 run sparked by a pair of Duncan free throws and an Atwood 3-pointer put the Hornets ahead 11-4.

Joshua Stallworth hit a layup with 9:39 remaining in the first half to give Concordia an 18-12 lead, but Oakwood came back to pull within one, trailing 21-20 at the 6:45 mark.

Concordia scored on three consecutive dunks — two from Duncan and one from Atwood — to take a 27-22 lead.

The Ambassadors responded with a 6-0 run to grab a 28-27 lead after Brandon Daniel hit a 3-pointer with 4:11 remaining in the first half. Atwood scored the Hornets’ final five points of the half to put Concordia in front 32-30 at halftime.

“We were pounding the ball inside to our big guy [Duncan], and we were taking care of the basketball,” Summers said. “Those things kept us in the ball game. The second half, we got away from pounding the ball inside.”

A couple minutes into the second half, Oakwood tied the game 35-35. Atwood answered with a 3-pointer, which was followed by a Duncan dunk to put the Hornets up 40-37.

After Oakwood tied the game 42-42, Teondre Bromell made a 3-pointer to give Concordia a three-point lead. Oakwood then went on a 9-0 run to seize control and take a 51-45 lead with 10:21 remaining in the game.

As the Ambassadors tried to extend their lead to double digits, Guy Barnes and Jamie Washington kept Concordia in the game, each knocking down two-point shots.

Atwood converted a 3-point play to cut the Hornets deficit to 59-54 with 6:10 left.

Within a span of a minute and a half, Duncan hit four free throws and laid down a dunk to reduce the Oakwood lead to 64-62 with 3:27 left.

After Oakwood scored four straight points, Atwood drained another 3-pointer to pull Concordia within three, as the Hornets trailed 68-65 with 2:14 on the clock.

The Ambassadors scored the final 12 points of the game to win the national championship.

“We played well up until a five or six minute stretch in the national championship game, just too many turnovers down the stretch. Too many mental mistakes,” Summers said.

Summers said he is hopeful his team can ride the momentum of a national championship run into next season, but he’ll have to replace some key contributors.

The Hornets will lose four seniors — Atwood, Barnes, Stallworth and Washington — to graduation. Summers is confident the recruiting class he has coming in next season will give his team a good chance of continuing the success from this past season.

He also said the experience his players received from playing in the national championship taught them important lessons that will help them next season.

“No team at that point is going to lay down and give you anything,” Summers said. “You’ve got to earn every win in a national tournament. Those guys know that now and hopefully they come back ready to work hard and get back to that level again.”