Sea Bears look to stay best in West

Mike Raimbault isn’t one to pay mind to the standings, but the Winnipeg Sea Bears’ head coach is in tune enough to know that his team may have a chance to separate itself from the rest of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Western Conference this weekend.

The Sea Bears (11-5) won’t call Sunday’s contest a free space on the bingo card. That would be nothing short of disrespecting an opposing team with professional athletes who are more than capable of putting it together for 40 minutes.

However, on paper, this lopsided tilt projects as a layup for Winnipeg. The Sea Bears remain undefeated through seven games at Canada Life Centre and will be more than happy to welcome the struggling Calgary Surge (3-13) to the den (2:30 p.m. tip-off).

After Thursday’s 97-93 victory over the Edmonton Stingers, the Sea Bears own their largest lead of the season in the Western Conference — a 1.5-game advantage with one game in hand over the Vancouver Bandits.

There’s a chance that lead grows ahead of Sunday’s contest, too, with the Bandits set to face a pesky Stingers squad on the road on Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s there,” Raimbault said, acknowledging the chance to create a small buffer with eight games remaining in the suddenly fading regular season. “I think what we try to focus on are the details of what we’re gonna have to do on Sunday to be successful and just try to take everything one possession at a time.

“Those things are much more in good hands for you to forecast and look at all the scenarios. The things that we can control, we’ll try our best to control those.”

Here are three points to know ahead of Sunday’s contest in the latest edition of Beyond the Arc.

Remorseful big man

Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. admits he let his emotions get the best of him on Thursday.

The Sea Bears centre was handed back-to-back technical fouls and ejected from the game after cursing at an official in the dying moments of the opening half, leaving an already shorthanded club with just two import players and forcing Raimbault to rely heavily on his Canadian talent.

Tilmon assured his brief lapse in judgment was nothing more than getting caught in the heat of battle, and that he immediately apologized to the team in the locker room at halftime.

“It was just a bit of frustration,” he said. “I felt like it was a missed call, and I turned around and said something and got a tech. I should have just walked away from right there.”

Raimbault said he didn’t speak with Tilmon after the game about the incident, because it was clear that the big man understood the cost of his actions.

Surely it was also easier to let the water pass under the bridge after the Sea Bears were able to overcome his exit in impressive fashion.

“He’s a high character guy. He plays with the emotion, just like a lot of us,” said Raimbault. “I’m not perfect either by any means in some of those situations, so I mean we’re super pleased with the connectivity and character of our group, and we’re happy that we were able to rally and get the win yesterday, despite the circumstances.”

Returning troops?

Trevon Scott was adamant that the walking boot on his right foot on Friday was strictly precautionary.

The forward, who missed Thursday’s contest, said the ailment he recently suffered was a “minor” ding that won’t keep him out for long. He was confident that he could play on Sunday, if needed.

“Yeah, don’t look into that too much,” said Scott. “This is an extra precaution. It’s nothing crazy.”

Raimbault said he is hopeful both Scott and Trey McGowens will be available on Sunday.

McGowens, who suffered a minor lower-body injury against the Stingers in Edmonton last weekend, was also held out of Thursday’s contest as a precaution. He did not hesitate to say he plans on playing Sunday.

The Sea Bears guard, who had started all 14 games since joining Winnipeg, was complimentary of teammate Mason Kraus, who led the top unit in his first-career start.

“It was great just to watch him do his thing. I see him in practice every day, getting better. And then I see him after practice; he’s a really hard worker. It’s something I said about the team before; it’s just fun to see everybody in the gym trying to get better individually because when you get better individually, it’s working towards the team goal,” McGowens said.

Moon update

Prior to Thursday’s contest, the Sea Bears organization issued a formal statement regarding the status of guard Xavier Moon, who arrived more than three weeks ago but has yet to suit up for the team this season.

While it was not a groundbreaking statement — it wasn’t anything different from what the Free Press has reported since Moon arrived — it was the first time that the club released a statement on the star player.

“Moon has not played to date because the team is still waiting on his international clearance from FIBA, basketball’s world governing body. This is a standard step for players moving between leagues and countries, and it has to be finalized before he can take the floor. The process is out of the club’s hands, and we are working closely with the league to move it along as quickly as possible. We hope to have a resolution next week and will share more as soon as we can,” the team said in a statement.

Raimbault was asked after Thursday’s contest whether there was a world in which Moon would not play for the Sea Bears this summer.

“It’s the exact statement that I’ve given you,” he said. “So, I got to continue to tell you that it’s not really in our control. He could be in the lineup on Sunday if things go well. We’re going to concentrate on preparing to play our best game on Sunday.”

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