The National Park College (NPC) Nighthawk men’s and women’s basketball teams celebrated
Sophomore Night with wins over South Arkansas Community College Thursday, with the
Nighthawk defeating the Lady Stars, 71-58, and the Nighthawk men winning, 98-85. Before the women’s game, NPC honored its three sophomores—Imani Honey (Hot Springs),
Jaide Vavra (Glenwood) and Katie Walthall (Little Rock)—for their outstanding contributions
to Nighthawks basketball.
In a defensive battle early, the Nighthawks forced tough shots from South Arkansas,
not allowing a Lady Stars field goal for the first six minutes of the game. Trailing,
5-4, with under four minutes remaining, NPC found its groove, outscoring its opponent,
14-4, to take an 18-9 lead after 10 minutes. In a back-and-forth second quarter, Honey
paced the Nighthawks with six points, sending the home team to a 34-24 advantage at
halftime.
In the third quarter, NPC thrived behind hot three-point shooting from Vavra and freshman
India Atkins (Bryant) to outscore South Arkansas, 25-7, in the frame. Trailing by
28 points entering the fourth quarter, South Arkansas rallied over the final 10 minutes,
outscoring NPC, 16-2, over a four-minute stretch. Honey added six points in the final
frame to help keep the Lady Stars at bay, earning NPC’s second-consecutive Region
II win.
Atkins led the Nighthawks in scoring with 16 points, while Honey and Vavra added 15
and 14 points, respectively, in the win.
Before the men’s game, NPC honored seven sensational sophomores—Kam Vick (Little Rock),
Terry Clardy Jr. (Conway), Tyler Tolliver (Mayflower), Sayvon Traylor
(Conyers, GA), Joe Ramey (El Dorado), Kamren Roelke (Hot Springs) and Jakilyn Kaiser
(Conway)—for their contributions to Nighthawks basketball.
The Nighthawk men took charge early, riding hot shooting from Ramey, Clardy Jr. and
Traylor to outscore the Stars, 19-2, in the first six minutes. South Arkansas capitalized
on NPC foul trouble to close the gap to seven points, 41-34, with 3:26 remaining.
With 13 seconds remaining, Ramey knocked in a late field goal for NPC before a buzzer-beating
three-pointer from the Stars sent the game to halftime with a 53-45 Nighthawk lead.
South Arkansas kept things close over the second half, staying within six points of
the Nighthawks for most of the first 10 minutes. With the lead cut to five points,
71-66, with 10:25 remaining, NPC erupted on a 15-5 run over the next four minutes
to put the Stars away, fueled by hot three-point shooting from Vick and Ramey’s trademark
in-the-paint dominance.
Ramey led the Nighthawks in scoring with 19 points. Traylor and Clardy Jr. added 15
and 14 points, respectively, while Vick scored 12 points. Freshman Kylil Anderson
(Fort Worth, TX) notched 10 points in the win.
The Nighthawk men and women close the regular season on the road at Arkansas State
University Mid-South today with the women tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the men following
at 7:30 p.m. No spectator tickets will be sold. The game will be live streamed atasumidsouthsports.com/live.
For more information on schedules, rosters and more, visit 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 on social media.
Facebook: Nighthawk Athletics
Twitter: @NPC_Nighthawks
Instagram: nighthawkathletics
Snapchat: npnighthawks
