Sea Bears grind to 86-78 win over Rattlers to take command of Western Conference

In a game that featured the CEBL’s top two scorers, it was the defence and supporting cast that made the difference for the Winnipeg Sea Bears in an 86-78 win over the Saskatchewan Rattlers at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

The Sea Bears went on an 11-2 run in target score time that culminated in a game-winning three from Jelani Watson-Gayle.

“It was a team win, we got contributions from everybody,” Watson-Gayle said. “Saskatchewan’s a very good offensive team with a very good guard in Wright-Foreman and good pieces around him. We just played a good team defensive game.”

Winnipeg’s Teddy Allen, the league leader in total points, still asserted himself offensively in the win. He secured a double-double with 20 points on 10-20 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists.

Sea Bears’ big men EJ Anosike and Chad Posthumus also earned double-doubles in the win. Anosike finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Posthumus tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds. Watson-Gayle was a spark off the bench for Winnipeg with 16 points that included four threes.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s Justin Wright-Foreman lived up to his reputation as an elite scorer despite an off night. The Queens, New York native netted a game-high 24 points on 7-21 shooting while dishing six assists and grabbing six rebounds.

The Rattlers’ bench stepped up to support Wright-Foreman with 35 points. Michael Nuga came off the pine to contribute 11 points while Julian Roche added eight points and six rebounds.

“It's a hard-fought contest against a very good team,” Saskatchewan head coach Dean Demopoulous said. “It's a loss on the road and we need to be better.”

The Sea Bears crashed the glass and snagged 19 offensive rebounds in the win, 10 more than the Rattlers. It resulted in 15 second-chance points to accompany Winnipeg’s 48 points in the paint.

“The mark of a good team is to win in different ways. Some nights we'll score a lot, some nights it'll be Teddy, some nights it'll be a different player. Tonight was physicality – it was put in the post and just find a way,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor said.

Winnipeg started the game on a 9-0 run that saw Saskatchewan scoreless for almost the first five minutes. Nuga hit a tough layup to end the drought but the Sea Bears held on to a nine-point lead at 20-11 after the first quarter.

In the second, both teams continued to grind in a defensive battle. After a cold start to the game from beyond the arc, Saskatchewan connected on six triples from five different players to close the gap. A deep ball from Nuga cut the deficit to one point with the Sea Bears leading 37-36 at halftime.

In the battle of the league’s two leading scorers, Allen had the advantage in the first half. The Winnipeg star secured a double-double in the opening 20 minutes with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Despite struggling, Wright-Foreman went into the locker room with a solid stat line that included 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Both teams shot below 40 per cent in the first half.

Wright-Foreman caught fire early in the third and gave Saskatchewan their first lead of the game after an and-one. The Rattlers’ guard hit back-to-back threes as well and finished the quarter with 11 points. Despite the battle of leading scorers, the big men controlled the game late in the third. Posthumus and Roche each contributed and Anoskike closed the quarter with a hook inside to cut the deficit to 62-57 after 30 minutes.

Anosike started the fourth with another hook that resulted in an and-one. The teams traded leads several times before the whistle blew to go into target time. Nuga was fouled and hit two free throws to put Saskatchewan ahead 76-75 with a target score of 85.

However, Winnipeg’s balanced attack powered them to victory in target time. The Sea Bears went on an 11-2 run with four different scorers—none of them Allen—to earn the win.

Winnipeg improves their league-best record to 7-3 while Saskatchewan falls to 2-6.

Up next for the Sea Bears is a matchup with the Niagara River Lions at Meridian Centre. Saskatchewan will host the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.

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.