CHICAGO - An early 20-point advantage buoyed by great bench play allowed the WIndy CIty Groove to hold off the St. Louis RiverSharks 127-120 at the Kroc Center in Chicago, stopping a seven-game losing streak. The win bumps the Groove (3-12) a half-game past the Chicago Force for fifth place on the MPBA table.

Jordan Johnson burned the twine for 22 points and he led Windy City's second unit to help maintain a wire-to-wire lead that was as big as 20 but got no smaller than six. He hit a pair of successive three-point shots that capped off an initial 36-15 rally. Deveon Jenkins earned 26 points for the Groove, the highlight being a fourth-quarter "bucket and one" dunk that drew a huge rise out of the Kroc Center crowd. Jenkins was six of eight from the foul line within the final four minutes of the game.
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he RIverSharks (10-4) could never get a good rhythm out of the gate and their fatigue from the night before against the Force started showing. Jerrold Brooks led all scorers with 29 but was only 3 of 15 from three point range, a far cry from the eight he dropped against Chicago. Kenny McGowen added 23, 14 in the fourth quarter and mostly from the foul line. Terry Leake fouled out with 22.

The Groove aren't back in action until Mar. 22, when they have their final meeting of the year with the Chicago Force. The RIverSharks go back on the road Mar. 19 to take on the Bloomington Flex.