Honey Badgers Hand Sea Bears Second Road Loss, 96-92

The Winnipeg Sea Bears battled until the final buzzer, but 18 turnovers and a scorching Brampton shooting performance proved too much to overcome, as the Honey Badgers edged the Sea Bears 96-92 Monday night at CAA Centre.

The game was a back-and-forth affair. Winnipeg matched Brampton quarter-for-quarter out of the gate, tied 27-27 after one. But Brampton took control in the second, outscoring the Sea Bears 26-18 to take a 53-45 lead into the half. Twelve of Winnipeg's 18 turnovers came before the break. "We weren't necessarily as prepared to take care of the ball early on," said Head Coach Mike Raimbault. "We did a decent job of making adjustments at halftime and found ourselves some easy buckets, but yeah, sloppy with the ball early on." 

Those adjustments showed. The Sea Bears outscored Brampton 27-18 in the third to take a one-point lead heading into the fourth, before Brampton closed the door 25-20 to seal the win. "Our second half performance was much better," Raimbault added. "We've got to put the complete game together if we'd like to be successful on the road."

Cameron Tyson was the difference-maker for Brampton, draining seven of eight three-point attempts for 23 points. Sean East II added 23 points and seven assists. Matthew Moncrieffe was a force on the boards with eight rebounds. As a team, Brampton grabbed 15 offensive boards and turned them into 18 second-chance points.

For Winnipeg, Teddy Allen led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Jeremiah Tilmon Jr., returning to face the team he won a championship with, put up 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. "I done put a lot of buckets up in this gym," Tilmon Jr. said. "I knew it was going to be a dogfight. I expected a dogfight, and they ended up getting the win, hats off to them." Emmanuel Akot added 17 on an efficient 7-of-10 night, including a perfect 3-for-3 from three. Trey McGowens dished out 12 assists, and Davion Warren chipped in 11 off the bench.

The Sea Bears shot 56% from the field and scored 54 points in the paint, but gave away possession too often. Brampton converted Winnipeg's 18 turnovers into 24 points, and that gap was ultimately the margin.

Despite the loss, Akot kept his eyes forward. "They're one of the best rosters in the league. If we want to win a championship, that's a potential team we're going to have to go through. It was a good challenge and we'll learn from it."

The Sea Bears are on the road again Thursday, taking on prairie rival the Saskatoon Mamba on May 29 at 8:30 PM CT. Watch live on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, CBC Sports YouTube, CEBL+