Surge ride hot-shooting quarter to 110-78 win over Sea Bears
Calgary put up 35 points in the third quarter, more than doubling Winnipeg’s production in the frame, as the Surge (2-3) picked up a commanding 110-78 win over the Sea Bears (3-3) on Sunday afternoon.
After two quarters of play, and with both teams knotted up, Calgary broke the game wide open as six players combined to hit nine triples in the third. It resulted in the most points put up by any team this year – well above the Surge’s usual scoring average (83.4).
“They played for each other,” Calgary head coach Tyrell Vernon said after his team’s largest win of the season. “When you treat the game, and those you play with, the right way, good things happen.”
Sean Miller-Moore led the way for Calgary with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals to go along with his game-winning basket. Meanwhile, Malcolm Duvivier dropped 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting off the bench and Mathieu Kamba added 17 points with five made threes.
On the other side, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson led the Sea Bears in scoring for a second consecutive game as he finished with 18 points on 58 per cent field goal shooting. Teddy Allen bounced back from an eight-point early exit performance, as he put up 16 points, but struggled efficiency wise shooting 42 per cent from the field and racking up a game-high six turnovers.
“(Tied) at halftime, we were outplayed in the second half,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor said after his team’s second consecutive loss. “Disappointed in our defensive effort … we didn’t make the necessary adjustments, we allowed them to get hot.”
It was a neck-and-neck affair through the opening frame between Winnipeg and Calgary as neither team carved out a lead after 10 minutes. Miller-Moore made just one field goal in the frame, but it was an impactful one, as his layup at the first quarter buzzer tied things up at 25-25.
That trend continued throughout the second quarter as neither team sustained a lead larger than a possession before the Surge and Sea Bears went into halftime knotted up yet again at 46 apiece.
Had it not been for Winnipeg’s three-point shooting bailing them out, however, they likely would’ve faced a deficit much earlier in the ball game. The Sea Bears hit nine threes (+4) on a 56 per cent clip in the first half, which helped them overcome the fact that they turned the ball over 10 times for nine points.
It wasn’t until the third quarter that Calgary broke the stalemate as they opened the frame on a 14-0 run and earned them the game’s first, and only, double-digit lead. After doing much of their offensive work inside the paint throughout the first half, the Surge got hot from beyond the arc to go into the fourth up 81-62.
“Guys are starting to understand who’s good at what,” Vernon said of his team’s season-high 17 made threes. “Putting guys into positions naturally, so I don’t have to call plays, which makes it harder for other teams to gameplan for.”
A strong third quarter being Calgary’s catalyst for victory was a redemption of sorts after the same frame cost them just two days prior. Against the Vancouver Bandits on Friday the Surge managed to score just 10 points (-10) as they went on to narrowly lose 70-65.
Calgary made sure not to squander the 19-point lead they earned in the third as they extended the gap all the way up to 32 points throughout the fourth quarter and Target Score Time as Miller-Moore finished things with a left baseline fadeaway.
The Surge may have propelled themselves to victory with a strong offensive showing in the second half, but it was their consistent defence that made it possible in the first place. Calgary held the league’s No. 2 scoring offence (94.8 points per game) to their lowest point total of the year, forced them into a season-high 23 turnovers and limited Winnipeg to just 32 points in the second half.
“Energy and effort,” Vernon said when asked how his team has picked things up defensively as of late. “We don’t point fingers, we just take care of each other and hold each other’s energy accountable.”
Up Next
The Surge get an extended break as they won’t return to action until Friday when they host the Edmonton Stingers for round two of the Battle of Alberta.
Meanwhile, the Sea Bears head west to visit the Vancouver Bandits as they wrap up a four-game road trip on Thursday.
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