Winnipeg Sea Bears Look to Spoil the Scarborough Shooting Stars Home-Opener
In the second game of a GTA back-to-back, the Winnipeg Sea Bears take on the Scarborough Shooting Stars at 8:00 pm ET from the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Friday night.
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.
As this is the inaugural season for the Sea Bears (1-1), it’ll be their first time facing-off with the Shooting Stars (1-1), and there are no previous matchups to review.
Winnipeg is coming off a 75-71 loss against the defending champion Brampton Honey Badgers. The Sea Bears led for a majority of the game, going up by as many as 10 points mid-way through the third quarter. It was a costly 13-5 run in Target Score Time given up by the team that ended up deciding things.
Guard Teddy Allen led the team in scoring with 18 points but did so on an inefficient 7-24 shooting. His struggles putting the ball through the hoop seemed to be on par with the rest of the team as Winnipeg ended the game having shot a lowly 30 per cent from the field and 24 per cent from distance.
Those offensive woes have been glaring for the Sea Bears through their first two games. The team has yet to hit double-digit makes from distance or shoot better than 36 per cent from the field. They’ve been relying on their ability to outrebound opponents and generate additional possessions. In their win versus the Vancouver Bandits they were a +6 on the offensive glass while generated 11 more second chance points.
In their loss to Brampton the team once again had the edge on the glass (+10) but couldn’t take advantage of the extra possessions by converting them into points. Winnipeg had eight more shot attempts but converted two less, ultimately costing them the game.
Scarborough comes into the matchup determined to win for more than one reason. A home-opener is always a reason to show out, but beyond that, the Shooting Stars are also coming off a 93-82 loss to the Ottawa BlackJacks they’ll be looking to bounce back from.
In that game, the team started strong as they got out to an 11-2 run. However, that lead quickly dissipated on the heels of a 17-3 run down the other end to close the first quarter. Scarborough never led again in that game as they gave up 18 three-pointers along the way, while only knocking down nine themselves. Mounting a comeback is difficult when a team gets outshot from the field, distance, and the free-throw line.
It was evident that the team was missing the production of Jalen Harris, who was in Salt Lake working out for the NBA’s Utah Jazz. His status remains unclear heading into the matchup against Winnipeg. The lead guard notched 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals in the team’s lone win thus far.
With or without the contributions of Harris, the Shooting Stars’ struggles shooting the ball have remained. Through two games this season, the team has shot 40.5 per cent from the field and 33.5 per cent from distance.
Despite that, there has been a bright spot for the club in the play of Cat Barber. So far, the guard has averaged 26.5 points, 5.5 assists, and seven rebounds, on 43 per cent shooting from the field to go with 36 per cent from deep. If you take out Barber’s numbers, the team sits at 36 per cent from the field and 20.7 per cent from three.
If the Shooting Stars are going to get back in the win column, they’re going to need the likes of captain Kalif Young and reigning U Sports MVP Thomas Kennedy to step up offensively. The duo of starting forwards have scored a combined average of nine points on 33 per cent shooting through the team’s first two games.
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.
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