Sea Bears cruise to wire-to-wire home win on record night

The next time the Winnipeg Sea Bears step onto the Canada Life Centre court, it’ll be for the Western Conference Final.

Until then, there’s no doubt that fans will be hoping for a repeat performance of the Sea Bears' dominant 92-60 win over the Brampton Honey Badgers on Friday in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg never trailed despite being without top contributors Jalen Harris and Simi Shittu, leading by as many as 37 points as it improved to 11-12 on the year following the team’s final home game of the regular season.

Leading that charge was Terry Roberts with his team-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including the game-winning basket. Will Richardson wasn’t far behind with his 20 points, four made threes, nine rebounds and six assists, while Trevon Scott chipped in 16 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

All of which gave the 7,207 fans in attendance plenty of seasons to celebrate, along with the fact that the Sea Bears faithful set a new all-time single-season attendance mark (92,103) for the CEBL. Not only surpassing the previous record of 86,275 Winnipeg set last year, but it making the franchise the first to eclipse the 90,000 mark in league history.

“I had heard a lot of stories about the fans (in Winnipeg) and how the games go, but to be on this team and experience it is special,” Scott said following the victory. “The crowd gets crazy, gets loud and it helps us.”

Meanwhile, Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Honey Badgers’ effort as the import finished with 22 points and six rebounds. Prince Oduro added 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Yaw Obeng-Mensah scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

The loss dropped Brampton to 5-18 on the season as they remained winless on the road, now 0-11 with one game to go.

“I thought the guys gave it the best they could, considering the circumstances,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said after his undermanned squad that dressed nine players lost its third straight game. “For some of the players, it was their first game … it’s a tough environment to come into, I think it’s the toughest environment in the league to play in, so I thought they battled back, but it got away from us in the third quarter.”

Heading into Fan Appreciation night in Winnipeg, head coach and general manager Mike Taylor’s message to his players was clear: “Feed the bear.”

And it’s safe to say that message was received loud and clear by the players as Winnipeg opened the ball game on a 9-0 run en route to a 25-16 lead after the first quarter. Spearheading that charge was Roberts, who scored seven consecutive points and punctuated that effort with a windmill slam in transition.

The highlight reel slam and early lead were more than enough “food” to energize the Canada Life Centre crowd in order to make its presence known on the record-setting night.

“We talked about it, showing the fans how much we appreciate playing in Winnipeg,” Taylor said post-game. “Show the fans how much you appreciate their support, and you do that by playing hard and playing together.”

And although it appeared that Brampton had weathered the early storm, cutting what was once a 14-point deficit down as low as three points in the second thanks to a 12-1 run, Winnipeg answered right back. The Sea Bears capped off the half with a 9-0 run of their own as they went into the break with a 45-33 lead.

The Honey Badgers did themselves no favours, however, with 10 first-half turnovers, five of which came in the second quarter as they tried to rally. Brampton entered the night averaging 15.0 giveaways per game, tied for the second-most in the CEBL.

The Sea Bears’ lead only grew from there, ballooning as high as 29 points in the third thanks to a 15-0 run, as part of a 23-7 quarter, before settling for a 68-40 lead after 30 minutes.

“I really loved how the team competed today. We came out strong to start the game and to start the third quarter,” Taylor said. “We kind of took our foot off the gas midway through the first half, but talking about it at halftime, I think it was a real priority for us to finish strong … we had guys step up.”

Winnipeg cruised to victory from there, bookending its closing effort with a pair of buckets from Roberts. The guard nailed a fading jumper through a foul to send the Sea Bears into Target Score Time with an 83-49 lead, and then wrapped up the win by dropping in a fastbreak layup of the Honey Badgers’ 18th turnover of the night.

Once the dust settled on Winnipeg’s 32-point victory, two areas of the game stood out as clear catalysts for success: rebounding and three-point shooting. The Sea Bears dominated the glass to the tune of a plus-14 rebounding edge that allowed them to generate 11 extra field goals. 

Meanwhile, it was less so Winnipeg’s production from beyond the arc and more so Brampton’s struggles that proved to be a difference maker. While the Sea Bears finished a modest 11-for-36 (30.0 per cent) from distance, the Honey Badgers went a woeful 3-for-24 (12.0 per cent), leading to a 24-point disparity on threes between the cross-conference opponents.

“Heading into our last game and going into championship weekend, it was a good win,” Scott said post-game. “An opportunity for everyone (on the team) to play, so it was a good team win.”

Up next

Both squads return to the court on Sunday for the final day of regular-season action. The Sea Bears will head to Edmonton as they visit the Stingers, while the Honey Badgers wrap up their season-ending three-game road trip against the Saskatchewan Rattlers.

Next CEBL action

The CEBL’s five-game Friday slate concludes with a cross-conference matchup between the defending champion Niagara River Lions visiting the Stingers in Edmonton at 9 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. local.