January 31, 2015

Chicago IL – Both the Gateway Steam and Chicago Force have the same goal Saturday for their game at Kroc Center in Chicago: leave the building with their second win on the season.  The Steam defeated the Force in St. Louis on January 4, while Chicago gained its only win against its intra-city MPBA rival, the Windy City Groove, on January 15. 

The foursome of Jake Anderson, Brandon McGill, Jonathan Miller, and Terrell Williams have led the Steam all season long, with each of them averaging double figures in scoring.  Anderson is at the top of the charts with 14.5 points per game, but newcomer Lee Fisher scored 16 points in his first game of the year last Sunday in a loss to the Bloomington Flex. The Steam hope to get off to a faster start than they have so far this season--opponents have outscored them 334-255 in the first half thus far in 2015.

Derrick McDonald leads the Force at 22.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.  Tremell Adams adds 16.5 points per game, while Antoine Ware grabs 9.0 rebounds a contest.  Despite out-rebounding opponents by an average of five per game, the Force will need to improve their outside shooting.  Chicago is hitting fewer than 18% of its shots from three-point range (14-for-80).

The game can be viewed live online at www.thempba.com.  Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.