The National Park College (NPC) Nighthawk men’s and women’s basketball teams split
games with Southern Arkansas University Tech (SAU Tech) Saturday, with the Nighthawk
women defeating the Lady Rockets, 75-64, and the Nighthawk men falling, 98-96.
Before the women’s game, NPC honored its six nighthawk sophomores—Kyndal Hardy (Mt.
Vernon-Enola), Logan Keener (Lake Hamilton), Brianna Barger (West Fork), Grace Crawford
(South Side Bee Branch), Summer Godwin (Mountain Pine) and Makayla-Kai Montiho (Poyen)—for
their outstanding contributions to Nighthawks basketball.
After SAU tech got hot from three-point range early, NPC played catch-up for the
majority of the first quarter, led by hot shooting from Crawford. Trailing, 17-16,
at the end of the first quarter, NPC made up for lost ground from beyond the arc,
fueled by seven combined treys from Crawford and freshman Jaide Vavra (Centerpoint)
to pace the Nighthawks to a 33-29 halftime lead.
In the second half, NPC received a surge from freshmen Imani Honey (Hot Springs)
and Nya Moody (Lake Hamilton), 
who helped boost the lead to double digits. Leading, 55-46, at the beginning of the
fourth quarter, NPC enjoyed an 11-point effort from Honey to close out the regular
season with a win.
Honey led the Nighthawks in scoring with 20 points. Crawford added 18 points, while
Vavra and Moody scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the win.
In men’s action, NPC fell behind early, 14-5, thanks to hot three-point shooting
from the Rockets out of the gate. The Nighthawk men battled from behind for the majority
of the first 20 minutes, utilizing big buckets from sophomore KaJuan Christon (Hot
Springs) and Kamryn Vick (Little Rock) to stay within reach of the Rockets’ red-hot
offense. cutting the deficit to nine points, 56-47, at halftime.
Trailing, 86-73, with 6:53 remaining, NPC mounted an impressive comeback, capitalizing
on SAU Tech foul trouble for a 16-3 run that tied the game at 89 with 2:11 remaining.
Fueled by timely free throws and smart shooting from freshman Joe Ramey (El Dorado),
Christon and freshman Terry Clardy Jr. (Conway), NPC took its first lead of the game
on a layup by Christon, 93-91, with 57 seconds remaining.
With 10.6 seconds remaining, Vick tied the game at 96 with two clutch free throws,
but a quick SAU Tech basket put the Rockets back on top with 2.2 seconds remaining.
With an attempt at a game-winning shot, Vick’s last-second half-court heave missed
the mark, ending NPC’s three-game winning streak.
Christon led the Nighthawks in scoring with 23 points, while Ramey added 21 points.
Vick scored 15 points, while Clardy Jr. and sophomore David Jagers (Mayflower) finished
with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Sophomore Reyhan Cobb (Decatur, GA) scored 10
points in the loss.
The Nighthawk men will celebrate sophomore night tonight at home against Central
Baptist College with a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be streamed live at www.xzerosports.com. The Nighthawk women have earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Region II Division
II basketball tournament at Harding University in Searcy and will face No. 3 SAU Tech
in the semifinals on Sunday, Mar. 1 at 3 p.m.
For more information on schedules, rosters and more, visit www.np.edu/basketball. Visit Nighthawk Men stats and Nighthawk Women stats for up-to-date NJCAA statistics on the Nighthawks this season. Fans can also follow
the Nighthawks all season on social media.
Facebook: Nighthawk Athletics
Twitter: @NPC_Nighthawks
Instagram: nighthawkathletics
Snapchat: npnighthawks
