March 11, 2015

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – With the Bloomington Flex (11-2) and the Champaign Swarm (11-3) separated by just a half-game at the top of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association standings, Thursday’s game in Bloomington could serve as a key factor in determining who takes control of first place for the rest of the season.

                    It’s also even more critical for Champaign when it comes to playoff seeding: the Flex have beaten the Swarm twice already, and a third win for Bloomington in the four-game season series would guarantee a tiebreak advantage in their favor.

                    “This is a big game, no doubt,” said Flex head coach Carlnel Wiley, Jr.  “Champaign continues to impress.  They took it to a hot St. Louis team last week, so they’re extremely dangerous.”

                    The most dangerous member of the Swarm of late has been Avery Smith, who, since arriving in Champaign on February 6, has averaged 24.6 points per game and has scored 30 or more in three of his last four outings.  Aaron Weaver chips in another almost-20 points per game, and athletic forward Mark St. Fort leads the Swarm in rebounding at 8.4 per game. 

                    Justin Bocot continues to lead the Flex and the MPBA with a 27.5 per-game scoring average, one of four Flex players averaging 15 points per game or better.  Anthony Slack has taken over the league rebounding lead at 11.4 per game, while Matt Salley has moved into second at 10.4 per game.  Slack and Terrence Green are second and third in the league in blocked shots, respectively.

                    Thursday’s game is an official NO MORE WEEK event, as part of NOMORE.org’s national movement to end domestic violence and sexual assault.  Flex and Swarm players will have their pictures taken with NO MORE signs, and the pictures will be tweeted and shared on the video board at U.S. Cellular Coliseum throughout the game.  Fans in attendance will also have the chance to “group tweet” the NO MORE message.

                Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m., with pregame coverage on theMPBA.com starting at 6:50.