Jacksonville Giants 174 Florida Makos 87

The Jacksonville Giants defeated the Florida Makos174-87 Friday evening at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. A big crowd was at the game for Military Appreciation Night.
Jacksonville led at the half, 79-41.
Leading scorer for the game and Florida, Tennence Smith, scored 36 points. Gertavian Blake, 6'-10" center, scored 18 points.
Jermaine Bell, Jacksonville seven foot center, scored 33 points. Anthony Jackson added 19. Damone Brown was the leading rebounder for the game with 12.
Some interesting statistics: Points off the bench Jacksonville led 94/20. Rebounds for the game Jacksonville 49 Florida 23.

After the game, Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters, talked about the game.

Jacksonville Giants 119 Birmingham Blitz 83

A nice crowd was at the game(staff report attendance was 3,000 plus) Saturday evening when the Jacksonville Giants defeated the Birmingham Blitz 119-83 at Jacksonville Veterans  Memorial Arena.
Just like the game Friday evening, Jacksonville got off to a great start  and blitzed the Blitz with a 33-2 run. Giants led after the first period 38-6. At the half Giants led 55-33.
After three quarters Jacksonville led 91-62.
Leading scorer for Birmingham was L. Gray with 17 points. Franklin pulled down 10 rebounds(2 off and 8 Def).
Currye "CT" Todd led Savannah in scoring with 21 points(he made 5 three point baskets and one of the baskets was a  four point play). Damone Brown scored 18 points. Playing the first half, seven foot center Jermaine Bell had a game high 11 rebounds
After the game, Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters, talked about the game on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 131 Gulf Coast Flash 99

The Jacksonville Giants played the Gulf Coast Flash Friday evening at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Final score Jacksonville 131 Gulf Coast Flash 99.
The Giants got off to another quick start in the first quarter with a 13-0 run. Jacksonville had 18 points when the Gulf Coast Flash scored their first two points. It was Jacksonville leading after the first quarter 41-11. At half time the Giants led 80-43.The Gulf Coast Flash team is noted for their three point shooting were 0-8 from the three point line in the first quarter and were 2-4 in the second.
After three quarters Jacksonville led 108-81 and won 131-99.
Leading scorer for Jacksonville, seven foot center, Jermaine Bell scored 25 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had 4 blocked shots. Tony Hooper added 22 points. Anthony Jackson had 10 assists and scored 17 points.

After the game I talked with Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters. "We played great the first half and fell asleep the second half. Tomorrow at 7:00 pm  we have a big game as  we play a good team, the Birmingham Blitz. Our record now is 15-1."

Jacksonville Giants 158 Atlanta(Southwest) Warriors 107

The Jacksonville Giants were glad to return home after completing an 11 day road trip in 5 states. Friday evening the Giants defeated the Atlanta(Southwest) Warrriors 158-107 at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jacksonville built a big lead starting the game utilizing their full court press, causing turnovers and they led at the end of the first quarter 41-19. At one point it was 20-2 early in the game.
At the half it was Jacksonville leading 79-48.
After three quarters, the Giants led 115-79. Final score Jacksonville 158, Atlanta 107.
Prior to the game, I talked with Jacksonville seven foot center, Jermaine Bell, who said he has the flu and was going to see prior to the game if he could play. Bell did not play.
Leading scorer for the game was Atlanta's Terry Martin with 30  points, A J Pilgram scored 22, and Brandon O'Brien added 17.
Tony Hooper was high scorer for Jacksonville with 26 points.
After the game I talked with Atlanta's Head Coach Presley, who said "Jacksonville played well and they played good defense. They shot the ball well making 14 shots out of 29 tries from the 3 point line. Our team shot the 3 point shot well making 9 out of 23 attempts."
Jacksonville Giants Head Basketball Coach, Kevin Waters, talked about the game on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 2012 ABA Champions

Sunday afternoon the Jacksonville Giants playing at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida (McArthur Center), became the 2012 ABA Champions when they defeated the South Carolina Warriors for the second time (best of 3-game series) 101-91. Friday the Giants defeated the Warriors in a thrilling overtime win 106-101.

The first quarter saw both teams start out slow and both teams committed numerous turnovers, thus the low first quarter score, Jacksonville led 19-16.

Both teams settled into their regular patterns in the second quarter and South Carolina led 49-43. Leading scorer for the Giants at halftime, seven foot center Jermaine Bell with 14 points. Leading scorer for the Warriors was 6-10 center Marquise Gainous with 17 points.

Shooting percentages for the first half: FG% for Jacksonville 47.5%. South Carolina shot 38.1%.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, South Carolina led 72-69. Jacksonville finished the 4th quarter strong and won the game, 100-91. FG% for the game: Giants shot 47.6%. Warriors shot 34.1%. Jacksonville made 5-17 from the three point line and South Carolina made 7-29.

The most valuable player of the tournament was Bell who finished the game with 29 points, 9 rebounds and numerous blocked shots. Sherod Harris scored 15 points and Currye Todd scored 10 points. Matt Fields grabbed 11 rebounds and Lamar Sanders had 10 rebounds.

Leading scorer for South Carolina was Gainous with 28 points. Tony White, Jr. scored 23 points. Joe Harris was the leading rebounder in the game with 12.

After the game, Jacksonville Giants head Coach, Kevin Waters talked about the win on the video.

Jacksonville Giants 102 Chicago Steam 99

The Jacksonville Giants travled to Chicago, Illinois for the ABA Playoffs to play against the Chicago Steam Saturday afternoon, March 31, 2012. The ABA Power Rankings lists Chicago #4 and Jacksonville #6. Basketball fans were able to watch the game on Facebook Ustream. Fans saw an exciting finish, with Jacksonville winning the game in the final seconds, 102-99.

At the end of the first quarter, Jacksonville led 28-22. Offensive rebounds helped the Giants to build a lead. Jacksonville extended their lead at the half to lead, 55-43. Anthony Lumpkin led the Giants in scoring with 18 points-he made 4 three points shots to lead all scores at half-time.

Chicago closed the gap, Jacksonville led 76-71 at the end of the third quarter. Currye Todd made a three point shot to give Jacksonville a 98-95 lead with seconds remaining in the game and Jacksonville held on to win 102-98.

Keys to the Jacksonville win was the Giants hit a high percentage of their free throws. They made 17 out of 21 free throw attempts at the end of the third quarter. Jacksonville was strong on the boards, as they made numerous offensive rebounds. Balanced scoring by the Giants was also key.

Leading scored for Jacksonville, was Lumpkin with his 18 first half points. Lamar Sanders added 13 points. Scoring 12 points each were, Jermaine Bell, Anthony Jackson, and Renaldo Norman.

Keith Dean led Chicago with 27 points. Sam Mack added 22 points.

Picture of Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters courtesy of Jodi Arnold: j-vision.smugmug.com.

The final ABA Four will be played April 9th, in St. Petersburg, Florida with Jacksonville Giants playing Sand Diego Sol and South Carolina playing North Dallas. The ABA All-Star game will be played in St.Petersburg on April, 14th.

Giants Southeast Regional Champions

The 2012 Southeast Regional playoffs were held in Jacksonville over the weekend.

On Saturday at Atlantic Coast High School, the Jacksonville Giants got off to a fast start on a 15-0 run before Fayetteville Flight could score their first basket. Giants won 178-89. Leading scorer for Jacksonville was Lamar Sanders with 23 points. Currye Todd and Tim Ware each scored 22 points. Renaldo Norman,who dislocated a finger, scored all of his 21 points in the first half. For the Flight, Brian Calloway scored 28 points, Scott Draughn 26, and Jeremy McGhee added 16 points.

The Championship game between the Jacksonville Giants and the Gulf Coast Flash was played Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Arena. The Flash advanced to the finals by beating the Carolina Cougars 166-96 in the preliminary game Saturday. The Giants and Flash met twice this season, Giants won a thriller at the buzzer in Jacksonville by the score of 116-115 on December 3, 2011. Jacksonville beat the Flash in Gulfport, Ms. on February 8, 1012 by the score of 122-110.

Both teams played defense and both teams turned the ball over several times in the first quarter. The Flash led 27-25 after the first quarter. At half time Jacksonville led 55-53. At the end of the third quarter, Jacksonville led 86-82. The game was close to the end, when Jacksonville pulled away and won by the score of 118-108. Leading scorer for the Giants was Currye Todd with 30 points, Tim Ware had 20, and seven foot center, Jermaine Bell, had a triple double with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots.

The Gulf Coast Flash is an excellent team, they play well together, shoot the three points with accuracy, and they are well coached.

Jacksonville Giants Head Coach states the Giants will play their next playoff game this coming Saturday in Chicago. Coach Waters talks about the win on the video.