Sea Bears Head to Ottawa Looking to End Their Road Streak

All three of Winnipeg's losses this season have come away from Canada Life Centre. In Saskatoon last Friday, the Sea Bears held a six-point halftime lead before the Mamba poured in 25 third-quarter points, eventually escaping with a 100-98 win. Emmanuel Akot's back-to-back threes tied the game in the fourth, but Winnipeg couldn't finish it off.

Head Coach Mike Raimbault isn't ready to call it a road problem, he's calling it a possession problem. "We're just a handful of possessions away from potentially being undefeated still," he said. "The game will continue to teach us some of the same lessons until we address them. We have to be a little bit tougher when we're out on the road."

The encouraging sign is what's coming to help address it. The Sea Bears will suit up NBA-experienced forward Trevon Scott for the first time this season. The 6-foot-8 forward, who averaged 8 points and 5.2 rebounds with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year, rejoins a team he helped in 2024-25, where he averaged 13 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Raimbault sees him bringing exactly what the road has been exposing. "If you look at some of the games where we've struggled, at times there's a little bit of a lack of toughness, grit and ability to rebound the ball, that's something that he does innately."

Scott came in ready. He's been first in the gym each of his first two days of practice and the energy has been contagious. "The team competes at a high level," Scott said. "Coach Mike put us in situations to compete and go against each other, and the competing level has been great." On his mindset heading into his debut, Scott kept the focus on his teammates: "Letting everybody know I'm here, and I have each and everyone's back. I want to win, and I want everybody else to look good winning as well."

The Ottawa Black Jacks will be a tough test, but the Sea Bears believe they have what it takes. "We know it's not easy," Raimbault said. "In some ways we're fortunate we get a chance to go back out and tackle some more adversity as a group."

Don't miss Trevon Scott's season debut — tune in at 6:30 PM CT on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, CBC Sports YouTube, CEBL+