Battle of top-scoring teams as Winnipeg Sea Bears take on Niagara River Lions
By Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh)
The league-leading Winnipeg Sea Bears (-133) finish up a three-game homestand on Thursday when they host the Niagara River Lions (-103) from the Canada Life Centre at 7:00 pm local/8:00 pm ET.
The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.
As this is the inaugural season for the Sea Bears, not only is this the only matchup between the two teams this regular season, but it’s also the first head-to-head battle for the squads ever. Although there’s no history between them, this will still be an interesting matchup as it’ll be a fixture between the highest scoring teams in the league.
Niagara currently leads the CEBL averaging 91.7 points per game, with Winnipeg right behind them at 89.9 points a contest. Two high-powered offenses facing off in a cross-conference clash for the first time, it’ll hopefully result in a bucket-filled treat for fans of both sides.
The Sea Bears enter the contest as leaders in the Western Conference with a league-best 7-3 record and are currently on a two-game win streak. Their most recent victory came in an 86-78 contest with the Saskatchewan Rattlers where they were able to come out on top despite being outshot from both the field and distance.
A big catalyst for Winnipeg’s third win in five games was their work around the glass. The team finished the game with 11 more rebounds than the Rattlers and a +10 advantage on offensive boards. Their efforts securing the ball resulted in 10 extra shot attempts, four of which were converted. Unsurprisingly, most of their rebounds led to opportunities inside the paint, where the team capitalized as they were a +16 on the night.
The Sea Bears’ impressive night securing the ball off the rim came down to a team effort, as three players on the squad recorded a points-rebounds double-double. E.J. Anosike, Chad Posthumus, and most notably, Teddy Allen, who put up a team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
The guard is commonly known for his scoring prowess, and rightfully so, considering he’s second in the league’s scoring race at 26.4 points per game. However, his ability to rebound the ball has been equally – albeit quietly – impressive as Allen is top-five in the CEBL, averaging nine rebounds a game.
Keep an eye on the glass battle in this matchup as Winnipeg is a top-two offensive rebounding team (13.7 ORPG) going up against a defensive rebounding team in Niagara that ranks second-last (27 DRPG).
The River Lions enter this contest on the heels of a 101-87 loss to the Ottawa BlackJacks that snapped a three-game win streak and sees them sitting at a 5-5 record midway through the season. Tonight’s matchup will also be the start of a three-game road trip for Niagara and keep an eye on how they perform as the visiting team throughout this stretch.
The team currently holds a 1-3 record on the road this season and are also winless against West coast teams in that span when playing them away from the Meridian Centre.
In their defeat to Ottawa, Niagara was outshot from the field, distance, and charity stripe. They went 9-30 from beyond the arch and did themselves no favours by missing a season-high 13 free-throws. It also didn’t help that the BlackJacks hit 14 triples along the way. The result of their struggles was their lowest scoring output in four games, failing to score over 90 points for the first time since June 10.
Despite the loss, there were positives for the River Lions. The team showed discipline handling the ball, only turning the ball over 10 times, their lowest in their last four games and below their season average of 13.5 a game. Niagara would ideally like to continue that trend and minimize their errors in tonight’s fixture as they’ll be taking on a Winnipeg team that currently averages the least giveaways in the league at just 10.9 a game.
The team also continues to be one of the better teams when it comes to distributing the ball as they lead the CEBL, averaging 20 assists. A major contributor to that success has been the unselfish play of 2022 regular season MVP Khalil Ahmad and his seven assists per game. After a quiet performance against Ottawa, putting up 11 points and four assists, look for the lead guard to try and bounce back.
A Sea Bears win could see their lead in the West grow even larger, going up two games ahead of the second-seeded Calgary Surge. Whereas a win for the River Lions could vault them back into a three-way tie for top spot in the Eastern Conference with the BlackJacks and the Scarborough Shooting Stars.
All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Full list of betting props available on BetVictor. Preview written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.