February 8, 2015

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Sports folk wisdom says it’s hard to beat a team three times. It proved to be a difficult task for the Champaign Swarm on Sunday at Parkland College.

Facing the Windy City Groove for the third time in five games, the Swarm (6-1) clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter and nine-point gap in the fourth quarter to an 87-80 victory over the Groove. The Swarm beat the Groove for the third straight time to keep a share of first place in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association.

The Swarm (6-1) led until Windy City grabbed a 29-28 advantage early in the second quarter on a bucket from Nate Fuqua, the Groove’s leading scorer. Fuqua, however, ran into foul trouble and sat for much of the second half. He finished with 16 points.

Windy City (1-5) extended a 10-point halftime lead to 56-40 in the third quarter, but the Swarm opened the fourth with a 15-2 run. Rob Broughton’s three-point play put Champaign ahead of Windy City for good, 71-69.

“We kept chipping away and chipping away, wearing them down,” said Broughton, who followed up with two key steals and layups to push the lead to 82-73. “Our principle is to pressure the ball, and they’ll break down eventually.”

Broughton just missed a double-double, with 14 points and nine rebounds, along with three steals. Arnold Louis posted his third consecutive double-double with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.

The Swarm were playing short-handed as point guard Rashard McGill sat out with a knee injury. Aaron Weaver filled in with 18 points, including key layups in the fourth quarter, but he also committed eight of the Swarm’s 22 turnovers.

“We have to make the game simple and our other players have to work on handling the basketball,” Swarm head coach Chris Daleo said. “(The Groove) threw some different defensive schemes at us, so hats off to them. We have to continue working on that.”

After a lopsided victory in their first matchup, the Swarm beat the Groove the last two times by margins of eight and seven points and had leads of only one point in each of the fourth quarters.

“I had a full head of brown hair before the game started,” Swarm head coach Chris Daleo quipped. “My team owes me a case of Grecian Formula so I can put these gray hairs back.”
   
Champaign’s win sets up a first-place showdown with the Bloomington Flex, also 6-1, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12 in Bloomington. The Flex are the only team to beat the Swarm this season.