\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"NEIL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4444349_web1_NEIL0223.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
NEIL NOONAN PHOTO<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Sea Bears guard Xavier Moon drives to the basket against the Ottawa BlackJacks at Canada Life Centre on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge,\u201d said Xavier Moon, who paced the Sea Bears with 29 points, adding nine assists and six rebounds. \u201cLast home game. Obviously, we got to go on the road and handle our business in Vancouver, but we dropped the last two here, so we knew a win tonight would be huge for us going forward. And it\u2019s the last home game before the playoffs, so I mean, we wanted to end it on a high note, and I feel like we did that tonight, regardless of how it looked like we played.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next time the Sea Bears will play at home is in the Western Conference semifinals on Aug. 6.<\/p>\n
While this one was nice, the Sea Bears, who improved to 14-9, have bigger fish to fry when they travel to Langley, B.C. on Sunday (2:30 p.m. CT) to face the Vancouver Bandits in a regular-season finale, winner-take-all for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg was playing a desperate team that was fighting to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race. And while the BlackJacks \u2014 who dropped to 9-14 and will need to win their last game and get help to make the playoffs \u2014 delivered their best punch, the Sea Bears saw it through.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really liked the resiliency that we showed,\u201d said head coach Mike Raimbault. \u201cI think there were a couple times, especially in the first half, Ottawa made a significant run, and we were able to take a timeout and sort of weather the storm, and come out and get a couple of buckets and a couple of stops. Every time they made a run, we showed some resilience to make one of our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sea Bears had struggled with fourth-quarter collapses the last two games, but found a way to dig deep when the lights were brightest on this night. They trailed by two entering Target Score Time, but went on a 12-2 run in the deciding period, thanks to six points from Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. and a pair of buckets from Moon.<\/p>\n
Simon Hildebrandt took the Sea Bears home on a nifty hook shot near the rim \u2014 his second game-winner of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stayed together,\u201d said Moon. \u201cThese last couple games, I feel like we gave away possessions. Tonight, we were more cohesive going down the stretch. Guys weren\u2019t making shots, but I feel like we all contributed to the win tonight, and that just shows the kind of team that we have. So I feel like from top to bottom, man, we\u2019re good enough to beat any team in the league. When we\u2019re playing like that, we\u2019re playing at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tilmon Jr. has made his presence felt in a number of ways this season, but it had been a while since he was able to exercise this kind of force on both ends of the floor because he has often been in foul trouble.<\/p>\n
The big man played a responsible, high-level game on this night, which included a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double that may have been overshadowed by his seven assists and six blocks.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t NEIL NOONAN PHOTO<\/p>\n Moon paced the Sea Bears with 29 points, adding nine assists and six rebounds.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like no big in this league can guard him,\u201d said Moon. \u201cWhen he\u2019s locked in on both sides of the ball, man, we\u2019re a completely different team. And I tell him that every game: \u2018We\u2019re gonna play through you. Don\u2019t worry about whatever else we got going on; everybody else gonna get their shots. I\u2019m gonna make sure I\u2019m getting that ball moving.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut if we\u2019re playing inside-out with Tily and he\u2019s showing this type of dominance, we\u2019re a very hard team to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Hildebrandt chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Emmanuel Akot supplied 10 points off the bench. Teddy Allen was held in check most of the night, finishing with nine points.<\/p>\n The BlackJacks\u2019 loss was a disservice to a tremendous outing for star guard Javonte Smart, who poured in 39 points while firing at a 62 per cent clip from the field.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great that we were able to keep him on the floor for substantial periods of time,\u201d Raimbault said of Tilmon Jr. \u201cHe impacted the game in so many ways. I said to him after the game that I was just so proud of the way that he played. He continued to be active on the glass even when the ball wasn\u2019t finding him; he kept so many possessions alive for us. I mean, he changed shots at the rim. He blocked shots.<\/p>\n \u201cHis activity level was tremendous, and that\u2019s sort of the level of play that we\u2019re going to need from him if we want to continue to try to work towards postseason success.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/joshuafreysam<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Joshua Frey-Sam Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n