Creek's double-double elevates Bandits to ninth home victory of the season

The Vancouver Bandits (12-5) feel right at home in the Langley Events Centre, knocking off the Winnipeg Sea Bears (7-9) 103-92 to earn their ninth victory in their own building this season.

Less than a week after swiping the first game of this home-and-home series, Bandits big man Mitch Creek once again erupted for a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds.

“He comes from a very, very high level,” Bandits head coach said of Creek, who has played in the NBA and for the Australian national team. “He has played at the level that all of these players in the CEBL are trying to get to … He’s probably one of the best bigs in the league.”

The win marked Vancouver’s third victory in four matchups against Winnipeg this season. Prior to this season, the Bandits had never beaten the Sea Bears, losing all four games to the team in their inaugural campaign.

CEBL MVP candidate Tazé Moore chipped in with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists — falling one assist shy of tying the CEBL’s single season record for most assists in a season (110). Nick Ward also scored 16 points and six boards off the bench, as the Bandits managed to hold a major advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Sea Bears 50-32. Vancouver also won the rebound battle 42-33 in their last game against Winnipeg.

“That’s a credit to the Bandits,” Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor said after the game. “Nick Ward, and the addition of Creek, makes this front court really, really difficult.”

The Bandits asserted their dominance in the paint right from the opening tip.

Creek, who matched his 31-point performance against Winnipeg last weekend, registered eight of Vancouver’s first 12 points as the Bandits looked for the big man early and often. Creek scored the team’s first points on a hookshot, and following a Moore jumper from the free throw line, he scored a pair of layups on back-to-back possessions.

“There’s a reason why he has the resume he has, getting paid the money he gets paid,” Ward said of Creek.

“He’s a leader, he’s a hell of player, left hand, right hand, jump shot, you can’t stop him.”

In total, the Bandits outrebounded the Sea Bears 15-6 in the first quarter, six of which came on the offensive glass.

But they only converted those extra opportunities into two second chance points.

Coupled with the fact that Winnipeg got reliable scoring — and three-point shooting — from Wright-Foreman, the Sea Bears managed to take the lead multiple times and not let the rebound discrepancy put them in an early deficit.

Wright-Foreman scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the first, including a pair of triples. The Bandits, however, didn’t commit their first shooting foul of the game until the final second of the quarter, and used their first triple of the game — a Zach Copeland stepback — with less than a minute left to take a 25-21 lead heading to the second.

After the break, the Bandits quickly went on a 11-4 run and started to create some separation. The Sea Bears, despite leading by as many as five points in the first, struggled to get anyone going aside from Wright- Foreman.

Starters Emmanuel Akot and Scottie Lindsey, who combined for 35 points in their last contest against Vancouver, mustered up only four first half points. Although Lindsey collected 12 second half points, the four other Sea Bears starters shot only 27 per cent in the first half.

The Bandits, after dominating the glass in the first, also started to get out on the fast break in the second.

They built up a double-digit lead on the back of six quick transition points, including a put-back slam by Kur Jongkuch that made it a 13-point game. After scoring two points on the break in the first, the Bandits quadrupled that number (8) in the second. They also built on their lead in the glass, taking a 30-16 lead in points scored in the paint by the end of the half.

Winnipeg also only mustered seven points in the first six minutes of the second quarter.

Despite the deficit growing, the Sea Bears bench managed to serve as a lifeboat for Winnipeg’s offence.

Simon Hildebrandt knocked down his second triple of the contest with less than three minutes left in the quarter. Winnipeg’s reserves combined for nearly half (19) of the team’s first half points (40). Hildebrandt finished with 15 points and four rebounds.

“I thought we got a lot of great contributions from the bench,” Taylor said. “The starters got off to a great start but we went through that stretch where we didn’t score and a couple of them got frustrated. That’s where we weren’t together like we need to be.”

But the Bandits used their legs to extend the lead to 20 by the end of the quarter.

A few possessions after Creek — who knocked down a pair of triples in the quarter — converted two of three free throws from a trip to the line, Diego Maffia threw up a lob to Jongkuch on the break that brought the crowd to their feet. The Bandits then got back on defence, used a double-team to force a contested shot from Wright- Foreman, before Duane Notice caught a streaking Creek down the court to add a layup and make it a 60-40 game at half.

Although the Sea Bears held Creek to only two points in the third, the Bandits extended their lead as soon as the game resumed. Vancouver scored four straight points to open the frame, including an uncontested Moore drive to the hoop that forced Taylor to call a timeout less than a minute into the quarter.

Hildebrandt then drew a foul on a layup, converting the free throw for the natural three-point play, to bring Winnipeg to within 15 points roughly one minute left in the third — marking the closest they had come to Vancouver since the second quarter. Vancouver took an 82-65 edge into the final quarter.

The Sea Bears then continued to chip into the lead, coming within single digits in the fourth largely on the back of the team’s bench performance — Winnipeg’s reserves outscored Vancouver’s bench 50-17 — and a strong second half outing from Lindsey.

The Bandits ended up taking a 10-point lead heading into Target Score Time, and although Winnipeg came within five points of Vancouver at one point with the game clock turned off, Moore sealed the game with the help of the Bandits strength on the glass.

After missing the potential game-winner, Creek collected the miss, Vancouver’s 17th offensive rebound of the game, and found Moore who swished in a floater to halt Winnipeg’s comeback bid.

The victory also helped Vancouver keep pace with the Edmonton Stingers for first place in the western conference. Edmonton also earned their 12 th victory of the season earlier tonight in Saskatchewan.

But Vancouver holds two games in hand, and will look to increase their win total in an east coast road trip that is set to begin next Thursday in Brampton. Winnipeg is slated to return home Saturday night for a date with the Rattlers.