Sea Bears outlast Rattlers for third straight win in Father’s Day matinee

Stars know how to respond, and Jalen Harris showed how bright his game can be.

After his quietest outing of the year — four points on 1-for-10 shooting — the import guard bounced back with a season-high 32 points as he led the Winnipeg Sea Bears (4-5) to a 91-84 win over his former Saskatchewan Rattlers (2-7) at the Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

Harris’s buckets weren’t only plentiful, finishing a lights-out 7-of-10 from distance, they were also timely. Whether it was an and-one finish to give Winnipeg some breathing room when Saskatchewan pushed a once 16-point gap down to two right before Target Score Time, or his five points — capped off by a game-winning dunk — to seal the Sea Bears' third-straight win, the star guard routinely answered the call.

“He was extra motivated,” Winnipeg head coach and general manager Mike Taylor said post-game. “His family arrived (for Father’s Day) and this is a former team of his … I had a feeling Jalen was going to have a big game today.

“We knew at some point he was going to get it going. It was really a difference in the game.”

Behind Harris’s heroics was Simi Shittu as he chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double for Winnipeg. Meanwhile, Terry Roberts proved why he ranked sixth in the CEBL for assists entering the day, finishing with 10 dimes to go with his 15 points. Jaylin Williams did his part as well, scoring eight points with seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

The Rattlers have now lost three straight despite multiple strong efforts on Sunday. Jamir Chaplin led the way, finishing with 22 points with four triples to go with four rebounds and three steals. Behind him were Cody John and Nate Pierre-Louis who scored 20 and 19 points, respectively, and Jaden Bediako who added a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Taylor made one thing abundantly clear about Sunday’s matchup before tip-off: “It’s always a rivalry.”

And the Father’s day matchup proved as much, the Western Conference foes spending the majority of the opening quarter deadlocked before a Kyler Filewich putback gave Winnipeg the lead in the waning moments and rewarded Roberts’ early effort — the import scored 11 points in the opening frame on a perfect 3-for-3 start from the field and 4-for-4 from the line.

Not to be outdone, however, John matched Roberts’ 11 first-quarter points as he started 4-for-4 with three made triples, blowing kisses to the 9,620 in attendance after each deep make. His lone miss of the first — a side-step three-point attempt at the buzzer — proved to be the difference as his Rattlers trailed 25-24 after the first.

Then came Harris’s turn to catch fire, single-handedly scoring Winnipeg’s first 14 points of the frame after a torrid 4-for-4 stretch from beyond the arc and a precursor of what was to come. The former NBAer helped the Sea Bears build their lead up to 49-43 at the break.

“It was due time,” Harris said after the win. “The past few games I hadn’t been really getting a feel for it, but I got a couple easy ones early (on Sunday) and it helped me get in a rhythm.”

Underscoring Winnipeg’s first-half lead was a heightened level of urgency on the glass, something Taylor emphasized entering the matchup. The Sea Bears held a 25-20 rebounding lead after 20 minutes, namely their nine offensive boards (plus-three) leading to a plus-seven edge (16-9) for second-chance points at the break.

“What killed us was the offensive rebounds,” Bediako said after the loss. “Something to look back on in the tape and clean things up … we need to be the aggressive team.

Winnipeg went on to finish with 50 rebounds (plus-nine), a more inspiring effort than the 39 they averaged entering Sunday, which ranked seventh in the CEBL. Again, most of their impact was on the offensive glass, finishing with 17 on that end and earning a 31-13 advantage on second-chance points for the game.

“It’s really been a point of emphasis for us,” Taylor explained on his team’s improved rebounding. “That’s a testament to the players. When you get guys committing to the details and physical stuff like that, it’s really going to help your team.”

Meanwhile, Harris didn’t stop there, his fifth triple of the day at the 1:44 mark of the third gave the Sea Bears the first double-digit lead — a margin they held and built to 72-59 after 30 minutes.

The Rattlers did respond, however, going on an 11-0 run in the fourth as they cut their deficit to just 82-79 when Target Score Time got underway. Erasing what was once a 16-point deficit was in large part thanks to Chaplin — Saskatchewan outscored Winnipeg 20-10 prior to the clock stopping on the back of his 11 points.

Saskatchewan’s comeback didn’t get any closer as the team was held to just one field goal and a couple free throws throughout Target Score Time. Fittingly, it was Winnipeg’s inspired effort on the offensive glass, from a team that entered the day ranked second last in that regard, which helped seal the victory. Roberts corralled a Tevian Jones miss from deep and astutely found Harris (who had also crashed in looking for a rebound) wide-open underneath the basket for a game-sealing slam