CHICAGO – The Champaign Swarm survived a scare from the Windy City Groove and held on for a 129-121 win on Thursday night at the Kroc Center in Chicago.

At 10-3, the Swarm pulled into a virtual tie for first place with Bloomington Flex and the St. Louis RiverSharks, who are both 9-2.

The Swarm needed all of their 75 points racked up in the first half. They built a 31-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Windy City stormed back to cut the deficit to six in the final minutes.

“We need to play smarter down the stretch when we have a lead like that,” said Swarm guard Avery Smith, who led all scorers with 35 points. “I made some bad plays, but we’ll get ready for St. Louis.”

Smith posted his third straight 30-plus point performance.  Carl Mitchell, Aaron Weaver and LaPhonso Ellis Jr. also had double-figure scoring.

Nate Fuqua had 27 for the Groove, while Sam Morgan added 23 and Lavante Douglas had 22.

The Swarm next host St. Louis RiverSharks at 7 p.m on March 7 at Parkland College.  The Groove host the Gateway Steam on Sunday, March 8 at 6 p.m.