January 25, 2015
Contact:   Craig Fata, Vice President
(844) THE-MPBA / craig.fata@theMPBA.com

ST. CHARLES, Missouri – The St. Louis RiverSharks used a fourth-quarter 14-0 run to take the lead for good in a back-and-forth battle with the Chicago Force Sunday at Family Arena in suburban St. Louis, holding on for a hard-fought 100-97 victory.

                Both teams held the lead for long stretches of the game.  The RiverSharks led from the outset of the game until the middle of the second period, when the Force took a 36-35 lead.  Chicago then held the advantage, swelling the margin at one point to nine, until the 7:24 mark of the third, when a Dwayne Polk layup gave St. Louis a 58-57 edge.

                After several lead changes, the Force took the lead back at 66-64, and twice got the lead to eight until the middle of the fourth quarter.

                That’s when the RiverSharks began their run.  St. Louis rattled off 14 straight points, capped off by Tyrell Hursey’s tip in and dunk on consecutive possessions bracketing the 4:50 mark to take a 91-88 lead.

                Chicago pulled to within one at 91-90, but a three-point play by Brandon Hogg followed by another score gave St. Louis a 96-90 lead.

                A Tremell Adams three-pointer got the Force back to within three with 1:38 remaining, but the visitors were unable to completely close the gap.

                St. Louis’ Keith DeWitt led all scorers with 34 points, to go along with a game-high 14 rebounds.  Hogg had 14 and Terry Leake had 12 for the RiverSharks, who upped their record to 4-2.

                Derrick McDonald led the Force with 22 points and 12 rebounds, one of five Force players scoring in double figures.  JaRob McCullum had 21, Adams had 16, Darius Smith added 11, and Antoine Ware chipped in 12.

                The RiverSharks are off until Feb. 5, when they face the Gateway Steam, while the Force are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31 when they also take on Gateway.