‘We just got to keep it going’

The Winnipeg Sea Bears have found a lot of ways to win this summer, and yet, something about Sunday still felt different.

A nail-biting 100-98 victory over the Edmonton Stingers wasn’t the club’s most impressive 40-minute effort of the season, but perhaps it was the most resilient after trailing the entire first half then outlasting the Stingers in Target Score Time to steal one on the road.

Head coach Mike Raimbault has harped on the importance of his team staying in the moment, especially when times get tough. When the Sea Bears have lacked in that area — which has always come away from home — they’ve paid the price in the form of some crushing losses.

But Sunday was different. There was no panic, even when the Stingers’ lead stretched into double digits, and Winnipeg was rewarded for it.

“To be successful when you’re facing adversity can pay dividends for you later on,” said Raimbault. “I think we have a pretty clear understanding of the way that we need to play to be successful at this point, and I don’t think we were necessarily as focused on those details in the first half as we could be, and I think it says a lot about the group to be able to refocus and come out and buy back into doing that, and it’s nice when you do get rewarded for it.”

The Sea Bears (10-5), who have now won six of their last seven games, and Stingers (7-8) will run it back for the final time in the regular season at Canada Life Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. tip-off).

“Obviously shows we can do it,” said Isiah Osborne, whose game-sealing free-throw marked his third game-winner of the season. “I mean, we haven’t been playing too well on the road, so coming back and fighting the way we did and playing the way we did in the second half really shows growth for us. It’s a good look to the future for us, and we just got to keep it going.”

The Sea Bears have won all three meetings against the Stingers and will be looking for the regular-season sweep on Thursday, which is quite the development when going back to pre-season when Stingers GM and head coach Jordan Baker threw a shot at his former teammate Xavier Moon and Winnipeg, saying “the grass isn’t always greener.”

Thus far, it has been. The Sea Bears lead the Western Conference while the Stingers are a middling club.

Here are three more points to know ahead of Thursday’s game in the latest edition of Beyond the Arc.

If not now, then when?

The date that always made the most sense for Moon to make his long-awaited Canadian Elite Basketball League return and Sea Bears debut was Thursday, but that doesn’t appear it will come to fruition.

The star guard, who arrived in Winnipeg three weeks ago, has yet to receive clearance from FIBA to play this season. To Raimbault’s best knowledge, it’s an administrative process that stems back to Moon’s regular-season club, Zenit Saint Petersburg of Russia’s VTB United League.

Zenit had until Sunday to decide whether it would forgo the remainder of Moon’s two-year contract with the club, which is valid through next winter, but since it didn’t axe the deal, it remains up in the air as to if and when the three-time CEBL Most Valuable Player will play this season.

“It’s out of our control, so we’re doing what we can, and he’s been great at the things that we’ve asked him to do,” said Raimbault. “We’re just concentrating on the things we got to do to be successful (on Thursday).”

One-horse race?

As the regular season nears the home stretch, the contenders for team and individual awards are coming into focus.

When it comes to the latter, Teddy Allen is slowly beginning to separate himself from the pack for the most coveted honour.

The product of Phoenix and 2023 Most Valuable Player has been on a tear in his return to the league, and is now viewed as the front-runner for a second MVP award, a feat that has only been accomplished by Moon.

Allen said he believes he’s a better player right now than he was when he won MVP in 2023, and the numbers support his case.

His 29.3 points per game this season trump the 27.6 three years ago. He’s also been far more efficient, firing at an impressive 49.5 per cent clip from the field compared to 43.3 per cent in 2023. He’s also top-five in free throw percentage, knocking down 91.1 per cent of his attempts, and one of the best thieves in the league, as his 2.4 steals per contest are tied for the most.

“I would say so,” said Allen, who on Sunday became the fastest player in league history to reach 1,500 career points (59 games). “My game has grown, matured and evolved. Just being in the role that I’m in on this team, it’s (allowed) me to play some pretty good basketball.”

For reference, the next closest MVP candidate is Scarborough Shooting Stars guard Myles Powell, who is averaging 25.3 points per game.

“I just try to do the best I can on the floor, and I know what comes with that, but it’s not like something I particularly got my eyes on,” he said. “I just know that if I play how I should play, it’ll be around.”

No sting

Along with their unblemished record, the Sea Bears have also largely taken the sting out of Edmonton’s offence during their meeting this season.

The Sea Bears have held the Stingers to 86.3 points on average through the first three contests, and it doesn’t project to get much easier as Edmonton prepares to go into Winnipeg’s den, where the Sea Bears are allowing the second-fewest points per contest (83.7).

“I think we’ve just been resilient, taking their punches and not staying down and getting back up,” said Allen. “They got a great team, but we’ve been able to prevail. Hopefully we will tomorrow as well.”

When Edmonton visited last month, the Sea Bears ran away with a 21-point victory while smothering the Stingers’ offence, allowing just 86 points.

“I think when we’re at our best, we’re defending,” said Raimbault. “I think that’s where we find the rhythm of the game, and I think for us the commitment to the defensive end is paramount. I don’t know if it’s necessarily one detail or another; I think it’s more concerted effort from our entire group to take care of the defensive game plan and be on the same page.”

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