Sea Bears Head to Vancouver with First Place in the West on the Line Sunday

The Winnipeg Sea Bears (14-9) close out their regular season in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon with first place in the West up for grabs. Win, and the Sea Bears return home with the best record in the conference heading into the playoffs. Lose, and they hand that honour to the Bandits. Simple stakes, massive game.

Winnipeg enters Sunday riding the momentum of Friday's 100-92 win over Ottawa, a performance that snapped a two-game losing streak and sent a message heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Sea Bears held firm through multiple Ottawa runs to close out their home schedule in dominant fashion, and Coach Mike Raimbault liked what he saw. "Every time they made a run, we showed some resilience to make one of our own," he said Friday. Now that resilience gets its biggest test of the regular season.

The Vancouver series has been a tough one for Winnipeg this year, the Sea Bears are 1-2 against the Bandits, which makes Sunday's result even more meaningful. Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. put together a complete performance Friday (22 points, 14 rebounds, 6 blocks) and knows what the moment calls for. "Get some rest," he said after the win. "Not getting ahead of ourselves. Just get prepared for a fight."

Xavier Moon, who dropped 29 points and 9 assists on Friday, is also locked in on what matters most between now and tip-off. "Having carryover the biggest thing we did tonight was stay together," Moon said. "Hopefully at the end of the year, we're hoisting that trophy."



UP NEXT

Watch Sunday's regular season finale live on CBC TV,  CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, CBC Sports YouTube, and CEBL+. Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m. CT.