On Sunday afternoon, the Jacksonville Giants defeated the Windy City Groove by a score of 120-102 to win the 2017 ABA Championship in a rematch of last year’s final round.
Jacksonville, we did it. Back to back champions. pic.twitter.com/IruT9skULp
— Jacksonville Giants (@ABA_Giants) April 2, 2017
The Giants have now won back-to-back championships twice, for a total of four league championships, since entering the league in 2010.
Overall, it was the team’s fifth appearance in the championship game in just seven years.
Maurice Mickens was named the MVP of the championship game, scoring 31 points. Mickens was also the MVP last year.
The championship comes at the end of an arduous playoff stretch for the Giants. The team had won its previous two playoff games by 2 points each. That includes their Elite 8 round game against the Baltimore Hawks in which they trailed by 17 through three quarters.
It continues the Giants’ dominance of the ABA. Only one other team, the SE Texas/Shreveport-Bossier/Kentucky Mavericks, has won as many league titles during the ABA’s current incarnation. The team has also broken the league’s single-game attendance record twice, and has been awarded by the league for outstanding service in the community as well.
The Giants are, by far, Jacksonville’s most successful venture into the world of professional basketball thus far.
Here’s a shot of the team’s locker room celebration, courtesy of their official Twitter account:
Locker room celebration. #4TimeChampions pic.twitter.com/TGmgtkrZPZ
— Jacksonville Giants (@ABA_Giants) April 3, 2017
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