Sea Bears escape with win over Rattlers, inch closer to playoff berth

The Winnipeg Sea Bears (8-9) came away victorious Saturday following a nail-biter against the Saskatchewan Rattlers (6-12) to extend their lead for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

With the victory, the Sea Bears are now two games ahead of the Rattlers for the fourth seed in the West. Winnipeg and Saskatchewan tied their season series at two games apiece, but the Rattlers claimed the head-to-head point differential and own the tiebreaker. So, despite being two games down with just two games left, the Rattlers’ playoff hopes aren’t dead just yet.

Leading Winnipeg in the win was Justin Wright-Foreman who finished with 24 points and six assists off the bench. He was helped by Simon Hildebrandt who finished with 19 points on 50 per cent shooting from both the field and distance to go with seven rebounds, and Scottie Lindsey who had a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) in the victory.

“Fortunately, today the will from the team was fantastic,” Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor said after his team snapped a four-game losing streak. “We got it done … I love the direction of the team.”

On the other side, Teddy Allen spearheaded a Rattlers starting five that all scored over double digits as he finished with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Backing up the reigning MVP in his return to Winnipeg was Cody John who put up 15 points and James Montgomery who racked up 14 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting effort.

“Playoff implications was our motivation, but obviously it wasn’t enough,” Rattlers head coach Larry Abney said following his team’s third consecutive loss.

Entering the night, it was no secret what a win could do for both teams’ playoff hopes. Which is why the first 10 minutes of the game were as closely contested as many expected.

Both squads shot under 45 per cent from the field as defence appeared to be the focus for two squads that usually rank in the bottom three when it comes to limiting opponents scoring. Had it not been for a buzzer-beating Stephane Ingo layup, that made it 23-19, the Sea Bears would’ve led by just one possession ahead of the second.

Things would stay just as tight throughout the following frame, but it was the Rattlers who ended up on top once the dust settled. Saskatchewan used an 8-0 run to take back the lead, holding on as they went into halftime up 46-44.

Unsurprisingly, it was Allen who sparked the effort as he scored seven points in the second quarter – putting him up to a game-high 12 points at halftime.

“Obviously Teddy is fantastic player,” Hildebrandt said postgame when asked about the emotions playing against his former teammate in Winnipeg for the first time. “He’s obviously a huge part of the game plan, but we tried to treat it like any other game.”

Not to be outdone however, Wright-Foreman led a Sea Bears response coming out of the break. Last year’s scoring champ put up eight points in the third quarter, none more important than a buzzer-beating, half-court triple that tied things up at 70-70 and got a sold-out Canada Life Centre crowd on its feet.

Winnipeg made sure to take advantage of the heroics by their scoring leader, taking an 88-86 lead into Target Score Time, but nearly let things slip away at the end.

After finding themselves within just one basket of the win, it took 10 shot attempts to finally seal the deal. A chaotic sequence that included six rebounds for Winnipeg ended in a Sea Bears victory when Chad Posthumus got a layup to drop right underneath the basket.

Fitting that an intense effort to secure extra possessions on the glass is how Winnipeg ended up with a win, considering it was an area of strength all night. 

The Sea Bears finished plus-17 on rebounds, grabbing an impressive 32 (plus-20) on the offensive glass. The result of their effort was 31 second chance points (plus-19) and 18 extra field goal attempts – which ended up making all the difference as Winnipeg eked out a win despite being outshot from the field, distance and charity stripe.

“When you look at a team’s will … 32 offensive rebounds in unbelievable,” Taylor said when reflecting on his team’s effort. “That is a fantastic number, and it just shows these guys wanted it bad, so I’m really proud.”

Up next

The Sea Bears will stay home and host the Calgary Surge on Tuesday for their final contest in front of a Winnipeg crowd this regular season.

For the Rattlers, they’ll visit the BlackJacks on Thursday for the second of a three-game season-ending road trip.