Hildebrandt Drills Game-Winner as Sea Bears Halt Alliance Comeback in 96-88 Win

Teddy Allen’s 33 points paced the Winnipeg Sea Bears to a 96-88 bounce-back win over the Montréal Alliance at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

The Sea Bears led for the majority of the game and weathered a storm of Montréal runs to hold on for an important victory. Winnipeg remains in first place in the Western Conference and the win provides the CEBL’s newest franchise with a much-needed cushion over second-place Calgary ahead of the regular season’s final stretch. 

Winnipeg was on fire on Friday night, shooting 52 per cent from the field, and 51 per cent from long range while connecting on 16 threes. Allen was responsible for six of those threes on his way to another 30-point performance. The league leader in total points was efficient in the win, shooting 12-22 from the field and 6-9 from three. 

“I think our guys did a good job overall to stay in it when they got up … our guys could have quit, but they fought their way back in and made it a one-point game at one point,” Montréal coach Charles Dubé-Brais said.  “Hats off to us for fighting hard but at the end of the day, it was one of those nights for them…I think Allen hit a few that are just Teddy Allen shots.” 

Meanwhile, EJ Anosike mainly got it done inside the arc for the Sea Bears. Another top 10 scorer in the CEBL, Anosike scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting from the floor and 1-2 from three. 

Winnipeg also received crucial contributions off the bench from Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jelani Watson-Gayle and homegrown talent Simon Hildebrandt.  After going scoreless in their last outing, Watson-Gayle notched 14 points and five assists on 50 per cent shooting from both the field and long range. Hildebrandt scored 15 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and drilled the game-winner. 

On the other side, Nathan Cayo had his second 28-point performance against the Sea Bears this season after leading the Alliance to a win over Winnipeg last Monday. The Montréal native went 11-16 from the field and 4-4 from three to lead his hometown team in scoring. 

“I think [Cayo]'s, to me,  the most improved player in the CEBL from last year to this year. I think he's had a fantastic season and he's had two great games against us,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor said. 

The team’s leading scorer this season, Ahmed Hill, also balled out for the Alliance in the loss. After a slow start, Hill finished with 26 points – 13 of which came in the fourth quarter. 

Treveon Graham and Elijah Ifejeh each added 11 points for Montréal, but Graham was limited to just three rebounds in the contest. Meanwhile, Alain Louis tallied eight points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals in a well-rounded game. 

The Sea Bears won the battles in rebounding, assists, free throws and second-chance points. The biggest difference was contributions off the bench, with Winnipeg outscoring the Alliance 29-4 in that category. 

“Our bench has been outstanding all season,” Taylor said. “I think we've got the best bench production in the league. I think Jelani is a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year and I think Simon is a leading candidate for U Sports Player of the Year.”

To start the game, Allen rattled in a three and Graham responded immediately. The teams went back and forth until Watson-Gayle got going with back-to-back jumpers to force a timeout for the Alliance. However, he hit another stepback three out of the timeout and Hildebrandt connected on a trifecta of his own to extend the Sea Bears’ lead to nine. Hill scored his first bucket of the game to close the quarter with Montréal down 27-20. 

The Sea Bears extended their lead back to 10 points in the second, but Cayo, Ifejeh and Hill started cooking for Montréal. Six consecutive points from Hill cut the deficit to two points before Cayo started duelling with Allen. Late in the quarter, Anosike completed an and-one to give Winnipeg some breathing room. The Sea Bears carried a 50-45 lead into halftime. 

Graham kicked off the third quarter with an and-one for Montréal to make it a one-possession game. From there, however, the Sea Bears went on a 14-5 run that included an Allen three from each corner, giving Winnipeg a nine-point lead. The Sea Bears led by as many as 16 points, but the Alliance scored the final five points of the third to cut the lead down to 72-61. 

To start the fourth quarter, Anosike asserted himself inside with a pair of tough finishes to give the Sea Bears a 14-point lead. However, Montréal caught fire from three and went on a huge 18-5 run to cut the Winnipeg advantage down to one. Yang put a stop to the run and gave the Sea Bears an 86-83 lead heading into target score time. 

Nine points away from victory, Allen and Hildebrandt stomped out any chance of a Montréal comeback. Hildebrandt drilled a three to start target time before Allen forced an Alliance timeout with a layup. Hill buried another three for Montréal, but Allen answered with a contact triple of his own. To end the game, Hildebrandt faked to evade a defender and connected on a mid-range jumper. 

“We're working hard to improve our efficiency of target score time and today was a good day for us,” Taylor said. 

Winnipeg improves to 10-6 on the season while Montréal drops to 6-9. 

The Sea Bears will host the Calgary Surge on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a game full of playoff implications, while the Alliance visit Vancouver at 5 p.m. PT on Sunday. 

All games are available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 71 per cent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August.  More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.