Historic Double-Double for Shittu Pushes Calgary Past Winnipeg 96-82

Simi Shittu notched a game-high 32 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Calgary Surge to a crucial wire-to-wire win over the Winnipeg Sea Bears by a score of 96-82 at WinSport Event Centre on Thursday. 

The historic double-double for Shittu spoiled Winnipeg’s chance at clinching first place in the Western Conference and marked the first time a player tallied 30-plus points and 15 or more rebounds in the same CEBL game. 

“It's great – it shows the work I put in – but I'm just glad we got the win,” Shittu said. “I'm appreciative of the accolades and stuff like that, but we have bigger goals than that.”

After losing to the Sea Bears 100-75 in the first leg of a home-and-home last Sunday, the Surge locked down defensively and held their opponents to 82 points and 23 per cent shooting from three. Winnipeg also had 20 turnovers – double their league-best average of approximately 10 coming into the game.

“They controlled the tempo of the game today. We had 20 turnovers – a season-high – that really helped them get into transition,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor said. “I’'m really disappointed in the way we presented ourselves out here today.”

Calgary also kept any Winnipeg player from scoring 20 points. After a scoreless first half, EJ Anosike finished as the Sea Bears’ top scorer with 17 points. However, Teddy Allen had 14 points when he was ejected late in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul. Sharpshooter Jelani Watson-Gayle also reached double digits for the Sea Bears with 12 points off the bench. 

Meanwhile, the Surge also bounced back offensively on Thursday night. They shot 48 per cent from the floor, 36 per cent from three and outscored Winnipeg in the paint 62-36. Calgary also dished 22 assists while turning the ball over just 11 times.

Shittu’s big night was also ultra-efficient. He was 13-18 from the field, 2-2 from three and 4-5 from the free throw line.

“​​What I saw from [Shittu] was a complete game… he played the right way –  he defended, he set great screens, he got teammates open,” Terroba said. “The fact that he set the screens allowed him to be open. Him doing the work for somebody else allowed for all of his points. We barely ran a single play for him by design necessarily, except for pick-and-roll.”

Calgary’s Sean Miller-Moore chipped in 16 points on 7-21 shooting while Deon Ejim netted 13 points, including the game-winner.  Admon Gilder Jr. rounded out the Surge attack with 12 points while grabbing four steals as well. 

“A lot of things that people may not see in the score sheet [were Stef Smith’s] defence on the ball, and Mason Bourcier’s defence as well,” Terroba said. “Those guys [and Gilder] did a great job guarding Teddy and frustrating him, but he's a heck of a player. So we got lucky tonight.” 

Miller-Moore opened the first quarter with a transition slam to give the Surge a lead they’d hold on to for the remainder of the game. After missing the last game against Winnipeg, Shittu returned to action with a pair of inside finishes and Calgary started on a 7-0 run. Allen connected on a layup and a fallaway jumper to get Winnipeg on the board and the Sea Bears closed the quarter on a 13-5 run. The Surge took a narrow 22-20 lead into the second quarter. 

Shittu carried the Calgary offence in the following quarter. He scored 14 of the team’s 23 points in the second and scored 22 points overall in the first half. Calgary led by as many as 13 points, but a Posthumus free throw cut the deficit to 45-33 heading into the locker room. 

Calgary’s defence returned to form in the first half. They held Winnipeg to 34 per cent shooting from the field, 12 per cent from three and forced more turnovers in the first half (13) than Winnipeg averaged on the season. 

In the third quarter, the Surge broke the game open. Shittu continued to assert himself inside and the rest of the squad stepped up on both ends. Allen picked up his second technical foul late in the frame and was ejected from the game. Calgary extended their lead to 24 to close the quarter and carried a 72-48 lead into the fourth. 

The Surge maintained their advantage for the majority of the fourth quarter. Gilder finished a pair of important buckets as target score time approached and the Surge led the Sea Bears 86-65 after the post-four-minute whistle.

Winnipeg had a lot of ground to cover in target time but they were able to cut the deficit back down to 11 points thanks to some big buckets from Anosike. However, Ejim closed the game for Calgary with a putback tip-in and a corner three. 

Calgary improves to 9-8 on the season while Winnipeg drops to 11-7. The Sea Bears can clinch first place in the West with one more win, while the Calgary can dethrone them by winning their remaining games while Winnipeg loses theirs. 

The Surge visit the Rattlers in Saskatchewan on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT, while the Sea Bears visit the Bandits in Vancouver on Sunday at 7 p.m. PT. 

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.