Article By: Staff
The University of North Georgia (ÎçÒ¹¿ì²¥) captured its first-ever Peach Belt Conference (PBC) League of Legends Championship on March 18 at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia.
The Nighthawks defeated Georgia College 3-1 in the best-of-five final. The championship is the first of its kind in the nation, as the PBC is the first NCAA conference to present a league title in video game competition, or eSports.
League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game, where players on one team role play against other teams with the goal of destroying the opposing team's home base.
ÎçÒ¹¿ì²¥ was the No. 1 seed going into the tournament with a 12-0 record for the season. The Nighthawks swept No. 8 seed Young Harris College 2-0 in the best-of-three series, then defeated Columbus State University 2-0 in the semifinal match.
The Nighthawks won the first two games in less than 30 minutes, but dropped the third game in a 45-minute slugfest. ÎçÒ¹¿ì²¥ then bounced back in game four to capture the crown.
ÎçÒ¹¿ì²¥ now advances to the North American League of Legends Collegiate Championship play-in round. The Nighthawks will be among eight teams in the play-in round, split into two pools of four teams.
The Nighthawks will play three matches against other teams in their pool over the next two weeks. ÎçÒ¹¿ì²¥ will face off against Big Ten Network runner-up Illinois in a three-game match on April 14. The top two teams in each pool will then advance to the championship round in Los Angeles.