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.

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 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.

The Swarm dropped to 8-3, 1 ½ games behind first-place Bloomington 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.