East II breaks scoring record as Stingers rout Sea Bears in finale

All eyes are firmly set on the post-season.

With Winnipeg and Edmonton both locked into their playoff spots, the Stingers beat the Sea Bears 97-77 in both teams’ regular-season finale on Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.

While Sea Bears stars Jalen Harris and Simi Shittu were out nursing injuries, the Stingers played their usual starters.

The move paid off for Edmonton, which finished the season with three straight wins and a 15-9 record. Winnipeg, meanwhile, closes things at 11-13.

The Stingers are back in action on Thursday when they visit the Calgary Surge for the Western Conference Play-In game. Winnipeg, meanwhile, is off next week as it returns home to host Championship Weekend.

Stingers head coach Jordan Baker said the game was an opportunity to stay crisp ahead of the playoffs.

“We want to win every ball game. We played tonight to win. We played our regular rotation. We’re not trying to do anything out of character. It’s a situation where we feel good in the locker room and moving forward,” he said.

Edmonton took control of the contest in the first half and never looked back from there.

The rout really took hold when the Stingers increased their lead above 30 in the third quarter.

When the clocks stopped for Target Score Time, the Alberta squad led 88-66.

After the Sea Bears fought back some, Stingers guard Taye Donald ended the proceedings in style with a game-winning reverse layup in transition.

“My teammates tell be to be confident in that stuff, so just taking the ball to the rim like that, it is what it is,” Donald said in a post-game interview with Sara Orlesky before being mobbed by the rest of the Stingers.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the night came at the beginning of Target Score Time, when Stingers guard Sean East II broke the league’s single-season scoring record with a pair of free throws.

The record proved no easy task for East II, who tied it early in the third quarter on a layup but then endured a long wait before taking the mark all to himself.

He finished with 17 points on the night and 546 for the year.

East II said it meant a lot to him to set that record in his first year in the league.

“I was just trying to come here to win some games and bring a championship back to Edmonton. But for anything that comes your way you gotta be thankful … because there are people who would want to switch and do things like that any day of the week,” he said.

He added that he wasn’t hunting for his shots even with the record in sight.

“When they kept saying it on the announcements [in the stadium], I was kinda like ‘Oh man I gotta get it.’ But still trying to play the right way and make the right decisions because ultimately that’s what we do,” he said.

“But that’s over with, so we can get back to regular basketball”

Meanwhile, fellow guard Scottie Lindsey knocked down four three-pointers, leaving him one shy of the all-time mark set at 70 by both Saskatchewan Rattlers guard Justin Wright-Foreman and Sea Bears guard Teddy Allen in 2023.

Both East II and Lindsey played all 24 games for the Stingers this season, while the schedule stood at only 20 contests per team two years ago.

Baker said East II’s impact on the team was felt throughout the season.

“He’s a guy where sometimes we’re a little stagnant offensively and he can create his own shot. I thought tonight he was very unselfish, he didn’t force anything, he was moving the basketball, sharing with his teammates and his ability to mature into that point guard that we’ve been looking for has been tremendous,” he said.

Edmonton’s team-first mentality was reflected in its balanced scoring on the night — all of East II, Lindsey and Nick Hornsby put up 17 points to share the team lead.

The do-it-all forward Hornsby also added nine rebounds and seven assists. His 191 boards for the season sit second all-time, while his 127 dimes are third.

Donald finished with 14 points off the bench.

Winnipeg, which struggled for much of the year, could have entered the playoffs on a hot streak of three straight wins and fix victories in six. Instead, it will have a bitter taste in its mouth following the blowout loss.

Head coach Mike Taylor said the game didn’t go exactly as he was hoping.

“We wanted to keep our momentum going in a great direction,” Taylor said. “We hoped that we would come in here and get a road win. We got off to a really slow start and I don’t think our compete level was where it needed to be. I think the guys knew everything’s set and we’re getting ready for Championship Weekend.”

In the absence of go-to scorers Harris and Shittu, guard Will Richardson led the way for the Sea Bears with 21 points and seven assists.

Forward Nathan Bilamu was the only other Winnipeg player in double-digits as he neared a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Richardson agreed with Taylor about the momentum-halting loss.

“We were hoping to come in here and continue to build momentum and continue to work on intangibles for us to build for the post-season, which we kinda just blew the opportunity. So we just gotta shake this game off,” he said.

Taylor said the team has a detailed plan to prepare for the playoffs.

“We’ll rally the troops over the next two weeks and we’ll get ready for a great Championship Weekend at home,” he said.

Starting Thursday, the games will mean a whole lot more.

Up Next

The Stingers head to Calgary to face the Surge in the Western Conference play-in game on Thursday, while the Sea Bears return home for Championship Weekend.

Next CEBL Action

In addition to Stingers-Surge on Thursday, the East play-in will feature the Montreal Alliance at the Scarborough Shooting Stars.