February 18, 2015

ST. LOUIS – Another tripleheader is on deck for the Midwest Professional Basketball Association on Thursday.

The St. Louis RiverSharks return to action at Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.  The RiverSharks, who will enter the game at 5-2, will be playing in their first game in two weeks.  Opposing the RiverSharks will be the Windy City Groove who are 2-5 on the season. 

The game marks the debut of Marcus Goode, who joins the RiverSharks after spending time with the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA D-League.  Goode, who is 6’10” and weighs 295 pounds, was drafted by the Bayhawks in this past November.  Goode played one game with Erie before injuring his hand. 

Goode signed with Marshall University out of high school before completing his career at Division II Benedict College in South Carolina.  While at Benedict, Goode was a two-time All-American, and earned Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors after his sophomore and junior seasons.   

The RiverSharks will look to remain undefeated at Family Arena on the season (5-0), while the Groove hope to ride the momentum of an exciting overtime win over rival Chicago on Sunday.  Tipoff Thursday is set for 4:00 p.m.

The Champaign Swarm, meanwhile, have been doing a high-wire act.

The Swarm have fallen behind by deficits of 16, 21 and 18 in their last three games but won two of them and pulled within two points in their one loss.

Perhaps facing the Chicago Force will bring them back to ground when they tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Parkland College. When Champaign last played Chicago on Feb. 5, they never trailed and had their highest scoring output of the season in a 130-102 victory.

But the Swarm (7-2) will be short-handed Thursday night. Top scorer and rebounder Arnold Louis has departed for Colombia, and two more players -- Keith Biggers and Avery Smith -- will sit out to serve league-issued suspensions.

That will leave much of the ball handling duties to Aaron Weaver, who has been a key bench player with 17.1 points per game, and Rashard McGill, who averages 14.0 and has had double-digit scoring in seven of eight games played. Without first cousin Louis on the squad, Mark St. Fort takes over as the top post threat, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game following a 18-point, 14-rebound performance Sunday versus Gateway.

The Chicago Force (2-6) will have obstacles too, playing on the road on the second half of back-to-back games. They face their crosstown rivals, Windy City, Wednesday night.

The Force are led by Derrick McDonald, an aggressive guard who is second in the league in scoring and first in rebounding. Antoine Ware has become a big presence in the post lately, and Ronnie Carlwell leads the league in blocks.

If the Bloomington Flex are to extend their win streak to eight games on Thursday, they’ll have to do it against the team in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association that’s hungriest for a win: the Gateway Steam, who haven’t won a game since January 4.

But Gateway (1-8) is a team that’s made several improvements to its roster as of late, with the additions of a couple athletic big men and a couple quality guards, as well.

“They gave us a little trouble at times a couple weeks ago when they were here,” said Flex head coach Carlnel Wiley, Jr.  “They’re hungry, and they’ve been close lately—they led Champaign by 18 points in the second half in Champaign, so we know they can get it done.  We have to be ready for a hungry team ready to defend its home floor.”

Forward Lee Fisher leads the Steam in scoring and rebounding since joining the team on January 24.  The Northern Illinois University product is averaging 16.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.  Will Kirksey, who also joined the team on January 24, and Jake Anderson also average in double figures in scoring. Anderson is second in the league in three-point field goals made, behind the Flex’s C.J. Hampton.

Justin Bocot, the MPBA’s reigning Player of the Week, his second such award on the season, continues to lead the Flex offensively.  After his season-high 35-point outburst against Champaign last week, Bocot’s scoring average has ticked up to 28.5 per game.  Bocot is one of four Flex players with a double-figure scoring average.

Matt Salley is the leading rebounder for the Flex, averaging 8.8 per game.  Anthony Slack adds 8.5 rebounds and is third in the league with 16 blocks.  Terrence Green is second in the MPBA with 17 blocks.

The Flex and Steam tip off at 7:00 p.m. at Family Arena.

Fans can watch all three games live and in high definition free of charge on the MPBA website.