The National Park College Nighthawks beat the South Suburban Bulldogs 84-79 to win the NJCAA Division II National Championship on Saturday in the school's first national tournament appearance.
Sophomore center Taylor Harrell led the way, scoring 20 of his 22 points in the second half.
Harrell was also named tournament Pin Ryan Most Valuable Player after the game. Sophomores Keryn Collins and Nakavieon White made the All-Tournament team and sophomore Ja'Bryant Hill won the Jack Cistriano Best Small Man Award.
National Park overcame a 12-rebound deficit by shooting 60% from the field and big performances from Harrell, Collins -- who had 19 points and eight assists --and sophomore Ja'Bryant Hill who had 15 points.
"The guys deserve it, I'm just so happy for them," NPC head coach Dillon Hargrove said after the game. "Every team goes through adversity, and this team did, and I'm just so proud of them and the way they played at the end. Nakavieon being out a long time, and the way they played down the stretch, Keryn Collins and Taylor Harrell and everybody else on this team. They all helped us win this national title."
The game was close the whole way through, with neither team going up by double-digits. After a late surge, the Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game late, but sophomore Jemel Jones lost his balance and fell out of bounds on the inbounds play with three seconds left.
Sophomore LeQuan Washington and freshman Quentin Heady combined to score the first eight Bulldog points as South Suburban got out to a quick 10-5 start. Sophomore Siddiq Canty tied the game with a three before sophomore Anthony Swift added a couple layups in quick succession. Hill followed them up with a four-point play to cap a 13-2 run.
South Suburban answered with a 10-2 run of its own to take the lead back for a brief moment. Collins hit a three to tie the game soon after, and White converted an and-1 a few possessions later to put the Nighthawks up four.
Sophomore Patrick Punch added a tricky reverse layup and Harrell did a 360 into a layup as the teams traded baskets to end the half. Washington made a jumper at the buzzer, with his foot just on the three-point line, to send the game to halftime 44-38 Nighthawks.
Harrell came out of halftime and decided National Park was winning the game, scoring the first 10 Nighthawk points after the intermission. Jones had five points in that stretch to keep South Suburban within six.
Sophomore Julius Byrd tied the game with eight quick points, including back-to-back 3-pointers. He scored 18 in the contest and went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Canty hit from beyond the arc to give NPC a lead, but Heady scored two baskets including an alley-oop lay to tie the game quickly.
The Nighthawks were forced to play the majority of the final 13 minutes with White on the bench.
Following a Collins layup, Jones made an and-1 to give the Bulldogs a lead in the last 10 minutes. However, Harrell got another bucket to put the Nighthawks back on top 66-65.
National Park could not pull away. The teams continued to trade makes and South Suburban stayed right on their tails. After another basket from Harrell put NPC up five with a minute to go, the Bulldogs scored back-to-back quick layups to make it a one-point game with 17 seconds to play.
A quick foul put Hill on the line and he converted both shots to give National Park a three-point lead. Following a timeout in the final five seconds, South Suburban inbounded the ball to Jones, who had 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the game, but he lost his balance and tripped out of bounds. A pair of free throws iced the game for the Nighthawks.