February 22, 2015

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The St. Louis RiverSharks used an explosive first-quarter to jump out ahead of the Champaign Swarm and never looked back on their way to a 113-89 victory on Sunday at Family Arena.

St. Louis used separate runs of 11-0 and 14-0 to blow the game open before the first quarter even expired. The Swarm during one stretch went nearly 5 minutes of game time without a field goal. After 12 minutes of play, three RiverSharks were already in double figures and St. Louis led 43-16.

Brandon Hogg and Keith DeWitt combined for 24 of 43 St. Louis first-quarter points as St. Louis built a 43-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The RiverSharks ran their lead up to as much as 38 points in the second half. In the fourth quarter, the Swarm’s pressure finally started to do what it’s designed to do, and they got the lead briefly under 20 points for the first time since the first quarter.

The Swarm were unable to catch St. Louis, despite a game-high 36 points from guard Avery Smith, who had his second 30-plus point performance in three games. Smith shot 12-for-24 and with five three-pointers while adding 7-of-8 free-throw shooting.

A trio of St. Louis starters cracked the 20-point mark to lead the home team. Terry Leake led the RiverSharks with 27 points, including 5 3-pointers. Jerrold Brooks also knocked down 5 3-pointers and finished with 24 points. DeWitt recorded his second straight double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and added 6 blocks as a bonus. 

The Swarm dropped to 8-3, 1 ½ games behind the first-place Bloomington Flex in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association.

Champaign returns home to host the Chicago Force at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 26 at Parkland College.  St. Louis hosts Bloomington, also on Thursday.