Surge clinch top-3 Western finish in 87-83 win over Sea Bears
The Calgary Surge secured a home playoff game with an 87-83 bounce-back win over the Winnipeg Sea Bears at WinSport Event Centre on Thursday.
With the win, Calgary will host either the Western Conference Play-In or the Western Conference Semifinal, while Winnipeg is now locked into fourth place after the loss and will head to either Calgary or Edmonton for the Play-In round.
A high-scoring first half turned into a defensive slugfest in the second as the Surge rebounded, in more ways than one, from a 111-104 loss to the Sea Bears on Tuesday.
Sean Miller-Moore’s ability to attack the rim helped Calgary to victory with a game-high 22 points, to go along with five rebounds. The first bucket of the game for “Rugzy” gave him 800 all-time points in the CEBL. He said togetherness was the key to victory.
“We went into [Target Score Time in the last game] kind of negative – not getting stops. And you know, that's not a great feeling. So that was kind of what we locked into and I'm glad we got it done,” Miller-Moore said.
Kyler Edwards added 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Surge while Stefan Smith came off the bench to score 15.
Calgary’s defence held league-leading scorer Justin Wright-Foreman in check for the majority of the contest. The Winnipeg star finished with 15 points on 4-18 shooting from the field.
Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon said the team denied, doubled and changed coverages to the best of its ability to limit Wright-Foreman.
“He’s probably one of the toughest matchups in the league and I think Corey [Davis Jr.] did a great job on him today,” Vernon said.
Two players with a Calgary connection made major contributions off the bench for Winnipeg in the loss. Former Calgary Dino Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson knocked down a team-high 18 points while former Surge player Mason Bourcier added 12 points.
After breaking the franchise record for points in a game in Tuesday’s matchup with Calgary, Winnipeg’s offence was limited to just 12 points in the fourth.
“Down the stretch, we kind of got out of our flow,” Ogungbemi-Jackson said. “They were switching a lot of ball screens and we were going one-on-one a little bit – myself included – and I feel like we didn't get quality shots in Target Time.”
The Surge also dominated the rebounding battle and finished with 17 second-chance points.
“The offensive rebounds kind of kept us afloat,” Vernon said.
Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor also credited Calgary’s work on the glass.
“The 25 offensive rebounds was a big help to them. That shows great desire from their team. They were really physical – our guys battled, but that gave them a lot of extra possessions. So credit to Calgary and their extra effort,” Taylor said.
Calgary started the game slow offensively and found itself trailing 11-3 as the midpoint of the first quarter approached. However, the Surge shooters began to heat up.
Triples from Smith, Edwards, Gabe Osabuohien and a pair from Davis. Jr gave Calgary the lead. Inside finishes from Smith and Miller-Moore late in the frame helped the Surge to a 23-20 lead after 10 minutes.
With Wright-Foreman on the bench to start the second, Ogungbemi-Jackson paced the offence with eight consecutive points for Winnipeg, tying the game each time. Calgary took back the edge with another trifecta from Davis Jr. and held on until Bourcier tied the game twice with a catch-and-shoot three and a lefty finish.
Despite several ties, Calgary kept regaining its lead with 10 triples from six different players in the opening 20 minutes – including three each from Edwards and Davis Jr. Smith capped off the quarter with an inside finish off a beautiful pass from Marlon Johnson Jr.
Wright-Foreman was limited to just one field goal in the first half and the Sea Bears were down 53-47 at the break.
The Surge stayed ahead for the majority of the third quarter, but Winnipeg kept close and took advantage late in the period. Back-to-back buckets from Ogungbemi-Jackson provided the Sea Bears with their first lead since the first quarter and a catch-and-shoot triple from Lindsey allowed the visitors to take a one-point lead into the final frame.
Defence took over in the fourth. After a layup from Miller-Moore to open the quarter, the Sea Bears went on an 8-0 run to force a timeout from Vernon. Edwards drilled a contested corner three to bring it back to a one-possession game and Miller-Moore cut the deficit to 78-77 ahead of Target Score Time.
Miller-Moore got to the rim again to take back the lead for Calgary at the outset of Target Time. After a goaltending call was reversed, Smith connected on a catch-and-shoot triple to extend the advantage. A spin move got Miller-Moore to the hoop once more for a finish that put Calgary three points away from victory.
Smith and Davis Jr. were able to end the game at the free throw line to improve Calgary’s record to 11-8 while Winnipeg fell to 9-10.
What’s next?
Both teams will have their regular-season finale in the coming days. Calgary visits Scarborough at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday and Winnipeg heads to Edmonton for a 7 pm. MT showdown on Monday.
- CEBL -
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