Sea Bears smother Honey Badgers

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This article was published 15/06/2023 (1209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You wouldn’t expect to see an expansion team hand a 21-point loss to the reigning league champions.

That, however, is exactly what happened inside the Canada Life Centre on Thursday night as the first-year Winnipeg Sea Bears dismantled the Brampton Honey Badgers en route to a 110-89 victory in front of 4,098 fans.

Bears guard Teddy Allen was scorching hot in the victory as the New Mexico State product drilled nine-of-13 three-point attempts for a game-high 40 points. The nine threes tied a Canadian Elite Basketball League game record (Connor Wood and Olu Famutimi both hit nine in games with the Guelph Nighthawks in 2019).

“Teddy Buckets is authentic, he’s the real thing. He’s been put in this role as the main scorer, the go-to guy and it’s him. It’s who he is,” said Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor.

“We’ve seen fantastic things that show he can be an MVP-calibre type player. This was my hope for him when we signed him.”

Allen, 25, was also a basket away from tying the all-time league record for points in a game — a record Allen already co-owns thanks to a 42-point showing against the Scarborough Shooting Stars on June 2.

Winnipeg’s professional basketball club is now 5-2 near the midway point of the 20-game season. Brampton dropped to 4-3.

Scarborough was an expansion franchise last season and made it all the way to the final, but the other two new teams — the Montreal Alliance and Newfoundland Growlers — were a combined 10-30 in Year 1, making Winnipeg’s strong start even more impressive.

The Sea Bears led 97-68 when the game clock was shut off for Elam Ending.

“I mean, it’s great, but I’m just happy we won,” said Allen, who also had six rebounds and three assists. “That’s really what I was focused on, bouncing back with my team and we were able to do that and I’m really happy.”

The Sea Bears bounced back in a big way from their poor showing on Monday when they were hit with a 97-68 loss on their home floor against the Edmonton Stingers.

“We just played more as a cohesive unit,” said guard AJ Hess. “Obviously, Teddy had an amazing performance. But if you really watched the game, we were making the right reads and a lot of people were getting involved. We really corrected a lot of errors we had the game before.”

The 110 points is the most the Bears have recorded in a game all season. It was only the second time in seven games that they’ve scored 100-plus. Winnipeg entered the night with the second-lowest scoring average in the 10-team league.

“The execution and teamwork was on another level. And again, I think you gotta give credit to Teddy. People are gonna talk about his scoring, but early in the game, he was coming out trying to find his teammates, trying to get those guys feeling good and I think it turned out to be a great night for everyone,” said Taylor.

The Honey Badgers started the game strong and led 25-20 after the opening quarter. The Sea Bears, however, found their groove in the second quarter with EJ Anosike, Hess, Michael Okafor and Allen each scoring five points to give Winnipeg a generous 46-30 advantage at the break. They never looked back after that and controlled the game the entire second half.

Hess finished second in scoring with 16, while centre Chad Posthumus added a season-high 15 points. Guards Jelani Watson-Gayle (14) and Glen Yang (10) also finished in double digits.

Winnipeg also got it done on the boards as they outrebounded Brampton 55-37. Posthumus, a Winnipegger, had the most rebounds on the night with 10.

The Sea Bears hit the road for their next game as they take on the Calgary Surge (5-2) Sunday afternoon for the top spot in the Western Conference.

“I think it’s a great thing for the CEBL. We have a new market in Calgary, a new market in Winnipeg, and we have two sports towns that are off to great starts with their franchises,” said Taylor.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31