Sea Bears Close Out Home Stand in Style, Top Ottawa 100-92 Behind Moon and Tilmon
Xavier Moon poured in 29 points and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. was a force on both ends as the Winnipeg Sea Bears snapped a two-game losing streak, beating the Ottawa BlackJacks 100-92 on Fan Appreciation Night at Canada Life Centre.
The Sea Bears needed a response after dropping their previous two games, and they got one at the Den on Friday night. Ottawa's Javonte Smart kept it interesting with 39 points, but Winnipeg held firm down the stretch to secure the win in their final regular season home game of the year.
Tilmon Jr. turned in the performance of the night, finishing with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 blocks while shooting 72 per cent from the field. Coach Mike Raimbault had no shortage of words for his centre after the game. "I was just so proud of how he played," Raimbault said. "He continued to be active on the glass even when the ball wasn't finding him. He kept so many possessions alive for us. He changed shots, he blocked shots, his activity level was tremendous, and that's the level of play we're going to need from him if we want to continue to work towards postseason success."
Moon was equally impressive, orchestrating the offence with 29 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds in 36 minutes. Tilmon had a simple explanation for what Moon brings when the game is on the line. "He's a true point guard, a smart point guard," Tilmon said. "Target score time comes, he's still fresh, he's still got all that energy. Every time we got a rebound, he was just flying down the court getting a quick bucket."
For Tilmon, Friday's win was about more than the scoreboard. "We lost our last two games, so we knew this was our last home game," he said. "We just wanted to get a good feeling back going in the locker room to change the energy before the playoffs actually hit."
Raimbault echoed that sentiment, pointing to the team's resilience as the story of the night. "Ottawa made a significant run in the first half and we were able to take a timeout and weather the storm," he said. "Every time they made a run, we showed some resilience to make one of our own."
Winnipeg improves to 14-9 on the season.
UP NEXT
The Sea Bears close out the regular season on Sunday, August 2 in Vancouver at 2:30 p.m. CT. A win gives Winnipeg first place in the West. Tune in for the last game of the regular season on
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