Teddy Allen did what he does best on Tuesday night: score, score, and score some more.
The star forward poured in a season-high 38 points to lead the Winnipeg Sea Bears to a 107-96 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Mamba at Canada Life Centre.
The win improves Winnipeg to 9-5 which puts them neck-and-neck with the Vancouver Bandits (9-4) for the top spot in the Western Conference.
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Winnipeg Sea Bears guard Teddy Allen scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Winnipeg Sea Bears to a 107-96 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Mamba at Canada Life Centre, Tuesday.
The Mamba sit in third and have now dropped three straight to fall to 6-8.
Allen got it going early by erupting for 31 first-half points as Winnipeg built a 67-56 lead at the break, tying the franchise record for most points scored after the opening two quarters.
“We call him Teddy Buckets for a reason,” said forward Emmanuel Akot.
“He draws so much attention. A lot of teams double team him or play heavy help defence so it makes our jobs easier. We just got to hit open shots, cut to the right space, and he finds us.”
Allen went 14-for-27 from the field, including 6-for-11 from beyond the arc, while adding 11 rebounds and two blocks. The 2023 CEBL MVP leads the league in scoring at 28 points per game.
“We had a really good offensive rhythm going in the first half. Obviously, Teddy was on a bit of a heater, but I think we got into a little bit of a back and forth where we were content to exchange buckets,” said Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Raimbault.
“We would have been a little bit happier had we dug in and got some stops and maybe built a little bit of a bigger lead. But I do like the way that we came in the second half and controlled the tempo and at pivotal times, we did get stops and we created some easy buckets for us going the other way.”
It was far from a one-man show.
Guard Trey McGowens took over late, finishing with 19 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds, while forward Trevon Scott also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
Akot, a Winnipegger, capped off the victory by sinking the game-winning free throw in Target Score Time. He chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Former Sea Bears guard Tevian Jones led the Mamba with 24 points.
As a team, Winnipeg shot 50 per cent (41-for-82), outrebounded Saskatoon 45-38, and scored 17 points off turnovers.
“I’m just trying to focus on picking my spots and trying to make sure everyone else gets going first,” said McGowens.
Saskatoon has won just once in Winnipeg over the past four seasons.
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The Sea Bears are a perfect 6-0 at the downtown Winnipeg arena after going 6-6 at Canada Life Centre last season.
The club is still looking to find the same success on the road as they’re 3-5 in enemy territory.
“It’s hard to win in this league regardless of where you’re playing,” said Raimbault. “We feel the support of the whole crowd. It helps us a ton when we’re here. We feel like we’ve had some good showings on the road that we just didn’t close out with wins.”
The Sea Bears return to action Sunday when they visit the Edmonton Stingers (5-7) at the Edmonton Expo Centre (5 p.m. CT tip-off).
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Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
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