Championship Weekend host Sea Bears earn convincing road win over Alliance

With just seven games remaining before they secure an automatic berth in Championship Weekend as the host team, the Winnipeg Sea Bears are focused on building momentum down the stretch.

On Sunday, they looked every bit like a team hitting its stride, earning a convincing 94-81 road win over the Montreal Alliance.

Before the second half, Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor seemed relieved in his interview with sideline reporter Gabriela Hebert.

“We controlled the tempo well … [and] second chance opportunities inside helped us,” said Taylor whose team was plus-four in second chance opportunities and minimized turnovers.

There was a brief scare for the Sea Bears as Montreal inched within three points in the third quarter, but Winnipeg re-established its dominance in the fourth en route to a 13-point victory.

Montreal jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, spearheaded by star guard Tavian Dunn-Martin. Winnipeg, however, quickly flipped the script, closing the first quarter up 23-18 — capped by back-to-back and-one plays from Jalen Harris, who finished with a game-high 29 points.

Montreal spent much of the second quarter trying to minimize the damage. Though TDM started the first frame with a bang, he went scoreless in the second.

Winnipeg’s import guard Will Richardson’s back-to-back triples built an 11 and 12-point lead. When Montreal’s Shamiel Stevenson hit a lay-up to make it an eight-point game, Emmanuel Akot, who had a great first quarter, dashed their hopes by nailing a big three-pointer, giving Winnipeg a 14-point boost, followed by a lucky bounce on Jaylin Williams’ three-pointer,making it a 15-point game.

“Eman (Akot), for me, he’s so been so good, kinda under-the-radar the last several games,” said Taylor. “He’s played great, he’s played so hard on both ends.”

Winnipeg had a 50-37 lead at halftime, but Montreal’s O.d. Anosike came out with the same bang that TDM came out with at the start of the game. Not only was Anosike scoring in the low post, he was acting as a point forward, a playing-making hub off rolls.

Jalen Harris’ 100th regular-season three-pointer pushed the lead to 12 points, but Kevin Osawe’s triple and Anosike finding Abdul Mohamed backdoor, led him to the charity stripe. His two free throws made it a five-point game. Though TDM wasn’t scoring, the threat of his three-point shooting allowed him to draw a foul from the perimeter, which got him to the charity stripe. He hit all three free throws to inch within three points.

But it was Winnipeg’s Simu Shittu, who had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double performance that helped re-establish Winnipeg’s lead.

Shittu brought out the Windex as he had done all game – his fifth offensive board led to Harris’ bucket, creating an eight-point buffer. Shittu’s sixth offensive board was a touch pass to Tre Scott to build a nine-point lead.

Winnipeg never let go of their double-digit lead in the fourth, and it was an easy win in Target Time.

Championship Weekend is only a month away. Montreal has lost four games in a row, but their playoff hunt continues.

Winnipeg will receive an automatic bye for being the host, but Taylor was ecstatic after today’s performance.

“We are working as hard as we can to stay sharp and hungry, but we’re running a different race from the other teams who are fighting to get into the playoffs,” he said. “I really love the direction the team is going and we have to keep working to be at our best come August.”

Up next for both teams

The Sea Bears (7-10) will return home to host the red-hot Edmonton Stingers (11-6), who are on a seven-game winning streak, at Canada Life Centre on Friday, July 25. The Alliance (6-10) will stay home and host the Ottawa BlackJacks (7-8) at Verdun Auditorium on Wednesday, July 23.

Next CEBL action

The Ottawa BlackJacks (7-8) will host the Brampton Honey Badgers (4-14) at TD Place in tomorrow’s only CEBL game.