New and much-improved Sea Bears hand Montreal first loss of season

The new version of the Winnipeg Sea Bears might just be as good as advertised.

The home debuts of guard Jalen Harris and Canadian centre Simi Shittu went as well as the city’s pro basketball team could’ve hoped as the Sea Bears took down the undefeated Montreal Alliance (4-1) 92-89 Wednesday night in front of 6,505 fans at the Canada Life Centre.

The Sea Bears took a commanding 78-61 lead heading into the final frame but nearly blew their first three quarters of work as Montreal clawed back to grab a 87-86 advantage in Target Time. Winnipeg managed to settle down with hometown forward Emmanuel Akot scoring back-to-back baskets before Harris fed Shittu in the post and he finished things off with a hook shot to earn the victory. With the win, the Sea Bears improved to 3-5 and snapped a three-game home losing skid.

It was Shittu’s first game as a Sea Bear as he joined the team late owing to his club overseas going deep into the Greek Basketball League post-season.

“I’m kind of speechless. It feels great,” said Shittu, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and a blocked shot despite getting into some early foul trouble and playing less than 16 minutes.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a perfect game, but I felt the love from the crowd and the support. The fourth quarter, they came back and made some big shots, but we just had to calm down and make the right plays and make stops on defence.”

Harris, a former Toronto Raptor who signed last week, had a rough shooting night finishing two-for-10 for four points but ended with a CEBL career-high nine assists. Tevian Jones was second in scoring with 17 while fellow forward Jaylin Williams came off the bench had his best showing of the year, a perfect six-for-six from the field for 15 points.

“I think we’re in a great position,” said Williams.

“Guys got out there, spread the floor, Simi can shoot, spread the floor, attack, and do tremendous things out there defensively to help us out and rebound. And Jalen coming in is tremendous as well, facilitating and controlling the game. I think we still have room to grow. First game with Simi, and if we just figure out how to click together and finish games out better, we’ll be a real good team”

Shittu got off to a hot start by knocking down a three on the first possession before following it up with a dunk to have five points in the opening minute.

“(Shittu) is a complete difference maker. He started so strong, and then the fouls limited him in the first half. But the rest of the team, the bench players, really stepped up,” said Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor.

“We got a lot of great contributions… I was really, really pleased with the team effort… You look at the number, 27 assists for the game, that’s a fantastic number and it’s a great sign that players are sharing the ball and working together.”

The Sea Bears entered the night dead last in the nine-team circuit in field goal percentage at 37.2 per cent but managed to shoot at a 49.3 per cent clip Wednesday. They still struggled from deep, though, connecting on six-of-25 from three-point range.

Montreal forward Quincy Guerrier led all scorers with 25 points.

“When you see these two new guys work for each other on the floor, I think that’s a wonderful sign. I’m really proud,” said Taylor. “It didn’t come easy, and it shouldn’t. We want to keep developing, keep working, but it was a great win and I’m really, really happy for the team.”

The Sea Bears are back in action Sunday when they host the Saskatchewan Rattlers (2-5) at 2 p.m.

ROSTER MOVE

The Sea Bears announced the release of backup forward Solomon Young Wednesday afternoon.

Last week’s signing of star guard Jalen Harris gave Winnipeg five import players, and only four are allowed to dress on game days. Young didn’t dress during last weekend’s two-game road trip. In five appearances this summer, Young averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca