Quaram Robinson, left, and Sion Bell.

A Kansas University debate team took second place in the National Debate Tournament, which had its national championship round Monday night in Binghamton, N.Y.

Sion Bell, a freshman from Laurel, Md., and Quaram Robinson, a sophomore from Round Rock, Texas, fell to a team from Harvard University in the final round, which took place at the same time as the NCAA national championship men’s basketball game.

They may not have won it all, but Bell-Robinson’s performance marked several national firsts.

Quaram Robinson, left, and Sion Bell.

“They are the first team not ranked in the top 16 going into the tournament to make it to the final round since rankings began in 1973; they are only the second team of two nonmales to debate in the final round, and Quaram is the first black woman to ever compete in the final round,” assistant KU debate coach Sean Kennedy said in an announcement from KU.

Bell-Robinson — which entered this year’s tournament as the 17th-ranked team in the country — was the 15th KU team to advance to the Final Four of the National Debate Tournament and the sixth KU team to reach the championship debate, according to KU.

Robinson also was named the sixth-best individual speaker at the tournament.

“Quaram and Sion had an amazing tournament with six wins over teams ranked in the top 10,” Scott Harris, KU debate director, said in an announcement. “Making it to the final round was a testament to their talent and hard work.”

A second KU team — Chris Carey, senior from Westwood Hills, and Amit Bhatla, junior from Lenexa — advanced beyond preliminary rounds at the National Debate Tournament but fell to a team from Berkeley in the first elimination rounds, according to KU.

It was also announced during the tournament that KU will — for the first time — host next year’s National Debate Tournament, set for March 23-27, 2017.

NDT finalists