Saskatoon Mamba see season come to end with loss to Winnipeg Sea Bears in first round of playoffs

Winnipeg takes 11-point lead out of first quarter, go on to 99-88 victory in Western Conference semifinal

WINNIPEG — The Saskatoon Mamba have seen their Canadian Elite Basketball League campaign come to an end.

The Mamba fell behind early to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and were never able to recover in the Western Conference semifinal on Thursday night, going on to drop a 99-88 decision in Winnipeg.

With the first two rounds of the CEBL Playoffs being a single-game elimination, that marks the end of Saskatoon’s season.

Winnipeg took a 32-21 lead out of the first quarter and led 53-39 at halftime, but Saskatoon made up some ground in the third quarter and actually got back to within eight 78-70 early in the final frame. Winnipeg put together a 12-4 run immediately after, and the Sea Bears went on to take a 90-74 lead into target score.

Saskatoon got no closer than nine the rest of the way, and Xavier Moon put down a pair of free throws to bring the contest to an end with an 11-point Winnipeg victory.

Tavian Dunn-Martin led the Mamba with 28 points while Jaden Bediako had a 13 point outing while also hauling down 17 rebounds. Jamir Chaplin put up 22 points, Damari Monsanto led Saskatoon in assists with seven.

Jelani Watson-Gayle came off the bench to score 27 for Winnipeg, Moon had 20 and nine assists, Isiah Osborne put up 19 and Trey Mcgowens scored 14. Simon Hildebrand had eight rebounds.

Winnipeg moves on to face the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final after Vancouver took a 92-83 win over the Edmonton Stingers on Thursday. The Eastern Conference semifinals saw the Brampton Honey Badgers down the Ottawa Blackjacks 95-91 and the Niagara River Lions take an 86-84 win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Both semifinals take place on Saturday night, with the best of three Finals beginning Aug. 12.