THOMASVILLE- In the last home game of the calendar year for the Night Hawks, they came away with a victory against the University of Fort Lauderdale Eagles on Saturday afternoon at the TU Gym.

The game started out quick as both teams matched each other bucket-for-bucket, then Tieraney Bolton knocked down a three to start a quick 9-2 run. The Eagles fired back again with a quick jumper and layup and from there the scoring slowed. With 1:08 left in the quarter, Kennedy Hayes drained a three to put the Night Hawks up seven, after another Eagle bucket, Aaliyah Ringold answered back with another three to go back up eight, Fort Lauderdale hit a mid-range jumper with 37 seconds to, but Destiny Hill fought through contact to get the layup to go in to end the quarter.

The beginning of the second was slower than the first as either side struggled to find the basket, Fort Lauderdale knocked down a layup to cut the deficit to four, then with 3:54 to go in the half; following a Kennedy Collins free throw make, the Eagles knocked down a three to be down only two. Bolton answered back with a layup of her own, but then a three brought the lead to down to one. Fort Lauderdale took the lead with 2:05 left in the half, however, it was short lived as Collins found Jamia Brown down in the post for easy layup to grab the lead back. Not long after the game was tied 27-27 when Aaliyah Ringold knock down a jumper to break the tie, then Collins sunk a three to bring the lead to five with 37 seconds to go, The Eagles did respond with a three of their own to send both teams into the locker room for half.

The third started the same as the first with both teams trading the lead back and forth until Collins hit her mark with another three to put the Night Hawks up four with 7:40 left. Thomas kept the lead with a possession for most of the quarter until a converted and-one and a free throw gave Fort Lauderdale its largest lead of the day. Sophia D’Amaro hit a layup off of a nice pass from Ringold to bring the deficit to one, then Ringold knocked down a floater to put Thomas back in the lead and they held on for the rest of the quarter.

Going into the fourth, Collins made a three to make it a two possession lead early, an Eagles basket made it three-point lead for the Night Hawks and after a Ringold miss, the momentum looked to be in Fort Lauderdale’s favor, however, D’Amaro made a crucial steal after the rebound and then found Ringold for a layup to go back up five. Later on, with 5:32 left in the game the Night Hawks flipped a switch and went on a 19-0 run to win the game 83-60.

Collins finished with 27 points and 21 rebounds, both of which are career highs for the senior from Atlanta. 24 of Collins’ points came from the three-point line, she also had 2 assists and a block.

Hill flirted with a triple-double, having 11 points, eight rebounds and a career high six assists along with three steals and a block. and Bolton logged 12 points, six boards, two blocks and a steal.

The Night Hawks will travel down the road to Tallahassee on Monday, December 30th for an exhibition with Division I Florida A&M. Then they’ll be back in conference play heading a hour north to Tifton for a game with SSAC and NAIA newcomer ABAC on Saturday, January 4th at 12:00.