Sea Bears visit Surge for Matinee game
The Winnipeg Sea Bears (3-2) continue a four-game road trip by visiting Calgary to take on the Surge (1-4) at WinSport Event Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. local / 4:00 p.m. ET available on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN+ and on the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices.
When the 2023 regular season came to a close last July, the Sea Bears and Surge sat next to each other atop the Western Conference. Call it coincidence or fate, but through a quarter of this year and both squads are yet again right next to each other – but at the bottom of the West this time.
Granted, Winnipeg has gotten off to a much better start than Calgary, rattling off a three-game win streak to stay above .500. They haven’t been without their struggles though as evidenced in their 101-94 loss against the Niagara River Lions on Thursday.
The Sea Bears biggest challenge – aside from having to play the second half of that game without Teddy Allen due to ejection – was trying to keep up on the glass. By the end of the seven-point loss, Winnipeg gave up 53 total rebounds (-10), nearly half of which (20) came on the offensive end.
And getting beat on boards appears to be a theme so far through their two losses. Against the Saskatchewan Rattlers, in a season opening loss, the Sea Bears gave up 56 rebounds and were minus-seven on the offensive glass.
Even in the loss however, Winnipeg was able to show positive signs. Namely, their offensive production kept pace despite not having Allen’s usual 30 points. Thanks to standout performances from Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson (24 points, six assists) and David Muenkat (16 points, eight assists) the Sea Bears proved they can still score the second-most points per game in the CEBL (94.8) even without their top man.
Meanwhile, the Surge appeared to be finding form with an impressive 17-point victory over the Rattlers for their first win of the season on Wednesday but followed it up with a 70-65 loss to the Vancouver Bandits two days later.
What made the biggest difference in Calgary’s lone victory was their offensive production. The 102 points scored against Saskatchewan was by far the most they’ve put up this season and well above their usual 83.4 points per game that ranks third lowest.
It took season-high performances from Sean Miller-Moore (27 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and Malcom Duvivier (18 points on 7-of-9 shooting) to propel them to victory and will likely be what they need more of to keep up with Winnipeg’s high-powered offence.
Even with just one win to this point, the Surge appear to be trending in the right direction at least. They may not be the league’s leading defence from a season ago but through their last two games things have looked much sharper on that end.
After giving up 100.3 points per game through their first three games, Calgary has limited opponents to just 77.5 points since.
Key Matchup
A major catalyst for the Surge’s turnaround has been the play of Mathieu Kamba. Playing for his hometown team has appeared to propel his defensive game as the guard is second in the league, averaging 2.2 steals. Over Calgary’s previous two games he’s seen that bump up to 3.5 which has spearheaded the Surge to just under eight steals per game as a team, third most in the CEBL.
Which is why Kamba has guarded some of the league’s best on a nightly basis and why he’ll likely have the unenviable task of guarding Allen after his quietest game of the season. The reigning league MVP and top scorer will surely be looking for a bounce back performance after putting up just eight points, his lowest point total in a game this season, through just 14 minutes of action.
Outside of that one blip, Allen had been averaging 34.5 points per game.
2023 season series
Although the first quarter of this season hasn’t been kind to the Surge, they can take solace in the fact that entering Sunday they hold a 2-1 all-time record against the Sea Bears.
Unsurprisingly, a big reason why the Surge found success was their ability to make things challenging for Allen.
In their two wins, the Surge held the 2023 league MVP to 18.5 points on 40 per cent shooting from the field. Allen was limited to just 14 points in Calgary’s 96-82 win on June 20, his second lowest scoring total of the season and one of just four times he failed to put up at least 20 points.
A stark difference from the 37 points he dropped in Winnipeg’s lone 100-75 win of the series.
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About the CEBL
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 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
