Conference Leaders Clash as Winnipeg Sea Bears Take On Ottawa BlackJacks

The Western Conference leading Winnipeg Sea Bears (-103) visit a top team in the East, the Ottawa BlackJacks (-133), from TD place on Sunday at 2:00 pm ET. 

The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

It will be the first time these teams face-off in their franchises’ history and the only matchup between Winnipeg and Ottawa this regular season. Aside from being two of the best teams in the CEBL so far, both teams also come into the contest in the midst of their longest win streaks of the 2023 campaign. Winnipeg and Ottawa have both won their last three games and go head-to-head today where one of those streaks will come to an end.

This will also be a matchup of two high powered offences who do their damage in different ways. The Sea Bears are second in the league in points per game at 90.2 despite being bottom-two in terms of field goal (42.1) and two-point percentage (47.3 per cent). 

Even with some struggles efficiency wise, Winnipeg is still able to be a dangerous offence because of the volume of shots they put up – nearly 77 attempts a game – largely due to their efforts on the glass.

The team is second in the CEBL at 43.1 rebounds per game while averaging a league-best 14.4 offensive boards a night. It’s the pairing of guard Teddy Allen and forward Chad Posthumus who lead the Sea Bears in that front, both top-ten rebounders averaging over eight a game. The big man specifically leads the CEBL in offensive rebounds, grabbing 4.5 a contest. 

Working so hard on the glass allows Winnipeg to create more offensive opportunities, no more evident than in their latest 93-90 win against the Niagara River Lions. The team – despite trailing by as many as 17 points – finished a +14 on the glass while grabbing 17 more offensive rebounds than their opponents. The result was them getting up 26 more field goal attempts than Niagara on route to a comeback where they held a 30-4 advantage on second-chance points.

Outside of their work rebounding the ball, some impressive scoring contributions also helped the Sea Bears come out on top. Allen once again led the way with his 28 points, six rebounds, and three steals. He continues to make a case for regular season MVP, averaging 26.6 points per game (second), 8.8 rebounds (fourth), while leading the league at 35.4 minutes per game. 

He was joined by sixth man Jelani Watson-Gayle, who dropped 19 points and seven assists in a season-high 32 minutes of action. The guard is currently leading the league with his 13.9 points per game off the bench – on great efficiency – as he’s in the top-five for field goal and three-point percentage, shooting an identical 49.1 per cent in both areas.

On the other side, the BlackJacks enter the game with a 7-5 record, and are fourth in the league in terms of scoring, averaging 87.3 points per game. They do most of their damage differently than the Sea Bears as they focus less on volume and more on sharing the ball. Ottawa is the league’s second best at finding the open man, averaging 19.4 assists per game, with nearly 60 per cent of their field goals each night coming off dimes. The result of their movement with the ball is often higher quality looks that the team tends to convert as they shoot a CEBL-best 46.9 per cent from the field and 38.3 per cent from distance.

In their most-recent 97-86 win over the Saskatchewan Rattlers, the team ended the night +8 on assists while shooting 51 per cent from the field and 40 per cent from beyond the arch. They were led by their guard-forward duo of Kadre Gray and Deng Adel who put up 19 and 22 points respectively, with each dishing five assists in the process. 

Keep an eye on the duo’s workload in this matchup as the BlackJacks rely heavily on the two when it comes to shot creation and offensive production. Gray is the league’s assists leader – averaging 6.5 a night – with Adel not far behind sitting in the fifth spot (5 APG). Along with sharing the ball, they also do the bulk of the team’s scoring, as they both lead the squad in points while shooting an identical 48.7 per cent from the field, all while both players sit in the top-10 for average minutes a game.

In terms of seeding implications, a win today would help Winnipeg extend their lead in the West to two and a half games over the Calgary Surge, while an Ottawa victory would break a tie with the Scarborough Shooting Stars for sole possession of top spot in a very close Eastern Conference.

All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Full list of betting props available on BetVictor. Preview written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.