‘We just took care of business’

Simply put, this was an emphatic statement.

On a night in which the Vancouver Bandits entered as the team to beat in the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Western Conference, the Winnipeg Sea Bears put the rest of the league on notice with a dominant 114-81 victory at Canada Life Centre on Thursday.

Led by a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double from Teddy Allen, the Sea Bears overwhelmed the Bandits offensively for 40 minutes en route to scoring the second-most points in a game in franchise history.

“I don’t know if we sent a message; we just took care of business,” said Allen. “They were missing some guys, but you can only play who’s in front of you, and I feel like we definitely dominated today.”

The Sea Bears, who improved to 7-4 and are now riding a three-game winning streak, hold the early tiebreaker over the Bandits and sit atop the Western Conference as the 24-game regular season nears the halfway point.

“I wouldn’t say we sent a message to the league; it was more so a message to ourselves,” said Trevon Scott, who scored the game-winning basket and 24 points off the bench.

“If you really lock in, do what the coaches tell us, and really trust each other, we could be a real dangerous team and make a big run this summer. So I think that message has got across, especially after how we felt after the game in that locker room.”

Isiah Osborne scored 23 points, while Trey McGowens and Simon Hildebrant chipped in with 11 apiece.

If there was one concern about the Bandits heading into Thursday’s contest, it was their defence. Vancouver has conceded the third-most points per game (96.4). The Sea Bears exposed their shortcomings over and over again, connecting on 56 per cent of their shots, including half of their attempts from deep range.

It didn’t help the Bandits that they were playing without two of their top players. Standout Canadian forward Tyrese Samuel has been worked out by NBA teams in recent days, while the league’s reigning MVP Mitch Creek, who debuted with the team on Monday, left to fulfill his international duties with the Australian national team.

Vancouver missed their services on both ends of the floor.

While rising star guard Jaelen House had his way offensively, finishing with a game-high 42 points, the CEBL’s assists leader was held to five as the visitors struggled to get through a stingy Winnipeg defence. Jarkel Joiner (18 points) was the only other Bandit to get into double-digits.

“We just talked about trying not to take any possessions off, and we felt like if we could defend, we would get rewarded going the other direction,” said head coach Mike Raimbault.

“I mean, you can’t say enough about the guys that they’re missing, so obviously, that plays a big factor, but in terms of our commitment to trying to guard, I mean, House still had a massive night and caused a lot of problems for us, and I thought we did a pretty good job of moving on when he made tough shots and trying to move to the next possession and playing as a five-man group.”

It was a dream first half for Winnipeg.

After a lightning-paced first quarter ended with the Sea Bears owning an eight-point lead, the hosts caught fire in the second quarter to the tune of 34 points while hitting 57 per cent of their shots, including six three-pointers. Their 62-40 advantage at the intermission was the club’s largest halftime lead of the season.

Not even the break could slow the offensive juggernaut on this night. The Sea Bears continued to build on their lead, this time on the strength of suffocating defence, which held the visitors to 16 points in the frame to take a 31-point advantage into the fourth quarter, and later a 28-point lead into Target Score Time.

“I think we all just were very present and understood, even with it being early season, these games matter,” said Allen. “Every season, teams are always at the end of the season, ‘If we won this game, if we won that game,’ and we feel like, as a group, we already lost a few of those, so we want to try to not have any more. We just were all locked in on taking care of business today.”

The Sea Bears improved to 4-0 at home. They are defending home court this season by an average margin of victory of 22.75 points.

The Sea Bears could now be the team to fear with Xavier Moon set to jump into the lineup soon.

Moon needs to be cleared by FIBA, the CEBL’s governing body, before jumping into action. The Sea Bears host Moon’s former team, the Edmonton Stingers (3-6), on Saturday (3 p.m.).

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