Sea Bears close in on playoff spot

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This article was published 14/07/2023 (1171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears finished what they started Friday night.

With an opportunity to all but lock up a Canadian Elite Basketball League playoff berth, the Sea Bears took control early and rolled to a 96-88 victory over the Montreal Alliance in front of lively throng of 5,508 that filled the lower bowl at Canada Life Centre.

Simon Hildebrandt’s 18-foot jumper sealed the victory for the hosts, who knocked down all four of their shots in Target Time. Winnipeg had an 86-83 lead when the game clock was shut off.

“The last one was kind of a broken play,” said Hildebrandt, whose 15 points were one below his season best. “I just got to my spot and shot it. Obviously, coach has confidence to put me in at the end of the game there… It goes along way just knowing that he believes I can knock it down, too.”

The 19-year-old Winnipegger was a model of efficiency in likely his best outing of the season, going 5-for-7 from the field including a 3-for-5 performance from behind the three-point line, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in 24:48 of court time.

“My teammates remind me every day, ‘We believe in you and we know you can play well,’ ” said Hildebrandt, who will return for his second season at the University of Manitoba in fall. “Saying (that) every day helps keep my confidence up and allows me to go out there and do that.”

Hildebrandt opened Target Time with a long three-pointer and Teddy Allen added a layup and a three-pointer to set the stage for the game-winning shot.

“It’s just a surreal moment in front of a sold-out crowd,” said Hildebrandt. “It’s unbelievable. (I’m) lucky to be here.”

Allen led the winners with 33 points. E.J. Anosike chipped in with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists while Jelani Watson-Gayle added five assists and 14 points.

The Montreal duo of Nathan Cayo and Ahmed Hill was superb, rallying the visitors from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get within one point, at 84-83, with 4:45 left in the game. Cayo and Hill had 28 and 26 points, respectively.

Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor made a deliberate personnel change before the game, taking 6-foot-11 forward Chad Posthumus out of the lineup and inserting 6-foot-9 Stephane Ingo.

Ingo responded with an excellent defensive effort, hauling down five rebounds in 8:12 of playing time.

“We’re trying to maximize our roster depending on our opponents’ strengths,” explained Taylor, whose club lost 89-85 to the Alliance on the road on July 3. “We felt like it was important to have a mobile and athletic front court against this team. We can play big when teams try to play big against us.

“We’ve got, I think, the biggest guys in the league (with) Chad and E.J. (Anosike) being physical. But what we’ve seen here in the second half of the season is certain teams have gone smaller against us and Montreal was one of those teams. This was an important part of having depth. Steph was brought here to be that specific role of the mobile big. He’s very mobile defensively and he protects the rim.”

Should the Saskatchewan Rattlers lose their home date with the Edmonton Stingers Saturday night, 10-6 Winnipeg would clinch at least a spot in the Western Conference 3 vs. 4 play-in playoff game.

Naturally, the Sea Bears have loftier ambitions.

“First is to get into the playoffs and we feel that’s going to happen and then the second thing is to position ourselves in the best place possible and that would be winning the west,” said Taylor. “So this is our team goal at this point. We want to have that home (playoff) game to get to Vancouver.”

With the Vancouver Bandits ceded the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference as the host team for next month’s four-team CEBL Championship Weekend, the four remaining teams in the west are battling for three playoff spots.

Vancouver was fifth in the conference at 5-8 entering Friday’s late game against the visiting Brampton Honey Badgers.

Montreal, fourth in the Eastern Conference, dropped to 6-9 overall.

With two regular-season home games remaining, the Sea Bears continue to be a strong draw in downtown Winnipeg. Friday’s crowd brought Winnipeg’s total to 40,410 fans in eight games — an average of 5,051.

Next up for Winnipeg is Sunday’s game against the visiting Calgary Surge. Game time is 2 p.m.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14