CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Tremell Adams had a career night for the Chicago Force, but his desperation three-point shot as time expired fell short, and the Champaign Swam came away a 110-107 on Thursday night at Parkland College.

The reigning MPBA Player of the Week set a new league-high with 44 points on 14-of-24 shooting, surpassing the previous mark set by Arnold Louis of the Swarm.

Champaign (9-3) beat Chicago (3-9) for the third straight time to pull one-half game out of first place after a Bloomington Flex loss on Thursday.

The Swarm established a 17-point advantage after the first quarter before Chicago fought back to close the gap to a one-point deficit at halftime.

“I tell my teams all the time, teams are going to on runs,” Swarm head coach Chris Daleo said. “Guys are going to do what they have to do. You have to be able to stop those runs.”

Swarm point guard Avery Smith came off the bench with a team-high 36 points, including four three-pointers in the final period.  He shot 13-for-21 from the field, and hit the final free throw that gave the Swarm their final margin.

“We kept our composure and stayed as a team,” Smith said. “This was a good win for us. We had some good defensive sequences down the stretch.”

Aaron Weaver’s layup with 1:30 gave Champaign final lead at 108-107. Weaver pitched in 24 points in his second start for the Swarm. Rashard McGill fell a rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points.

Though Champaign committed 34 turnovers compared to 18 for Chicago, the Force had three critical turnovers in the final 71 seconds of the game.

Force guard Darius Smith continued his tremendous defense with 11 steals, and nearly had a triple-double. He finished with 24 points along with nine assists.

Chicago next hosts Gateway at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 28 at the Kroc Center in Chicago. Champaign travels to Missouri to face the Gateway Steam at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.