Latest news with #SeaBears
Global News
5 days ago
- Sport
- Global News
Winnipeg Sea Bears release guard Mason Bourcier
In a bit of a surprising move, the Winnipeg Sea Bears released guard Mason Bourcier just a day after suffering a third straight defeat. The Sea Bears cut ties with Bourcier effective immediately after the fourth-year professional was scratched from their lineup in Wednesday's loss to the Vancouver Bandits. In making the announcement, Sea Bears general manager and head coach Mike Taylor said they mutually agreed to the split. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The Sea Bears and Mason mutually agreed that parting ways was the best decision for both sides,' said Taylor in a media release. 'We are thankful for Mason's contributions to our team and organization, and we all wish him and his family the best for the future.' Bourcier was coming off the bench in his second season with the club and averaged just three points and one rebound per game, while seeing the floor for only 11 minutes per night. Story continues below advertisement The 25-year-old averaged about 21 minutes of playing time per game in his first season with the Sea Bears. The Sea Bears will look to snap out of their losing spell when they host the Ottawa BlackJacks on Saturday night at the Canada Life Centre.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Half measures sink Sea Bears
In a blink, the Winnipeg Sea Bears were back in the same place. After outperforming the surging Vancouver Bandits for two quarters, Winnipeg's pro hoops team went through a stretch that's become all too familiar in the early goings of the Canadian Elite Basketball League campaign and found themselves in a hole too deep to dig out of in Target Score Time. Sparked by a 27-point performance from guard Kyle Mangas, the Bandits defeated the Sea Bears 100-89 before 7,142 fans at Canada Life Centre on Wednesday evening. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Sea Bears guard Tevian Jones (centre) controls the ball under pressure as Bandits guard Curtis Hollis (right) covers him. Mangas sealed the game with one of his five three-pointers in the contest. 'We loved the first-half compete, we loved the first-half teamwork. Put ourselves in a great position… came out (of halftime) and kind of lost control of the tempo of the game,' said head coach Mike Taylor. 'What we look at is controlling the tempo of the game, the shot-selection, and I think for the majority of the game, there were a lot of positives there. A lot to build on and a lot of good things from the team. But again, that third quarter, where it kind of got sped up a little bit, and made some poor decisions and got back to that shot-selection situation. For the majority of the game, we made strides and showed good things, but we weren't consistent enough for the entire time, and that stretch came back to haunt us.' The Sea Bears dropped to 1-3 on the young season, while the Bandits improved to 4-0. If there's a silver lining for Winnipeg, it's that it was Vancouver's toughest test to date. The visitors entered the contest having beaten their opponents by 35.6 points on average, while averaging 107.6 points per game. Tevian Jones paced the Sea Bears' offence with 23 points and six assists in 37:23, while Jaylin Williams supplied 21 points and four rebounds in 31:52. Terry Roberts added 16 points while playing 32:13. 'I personally just think keep building on the effort,' said guard Alex Campbell. 'The effort was there. I think we let our foot off the gas for about 10 minutes, and in that 10 minutes, the team went up 20, so I think it's just about putting together a full game.' After a thrilling season-opening victory at home, the Sea Bears found themselves down on their luck on the heels a pair of uninspiring performances against the Calgary Surge in which they were outscored by a combined 44 points. Winnipeg looked like a different team in the opening half as a terrific defensive start made life difficult for the dangerous Bandits. The hosts forced seven turnovers, six of which were steals, while building a 29-23 lead after the first frame — which marked their highest offensive output in the opening quarter this season. A slightly less stellar second quarter saw the Bandits go on a 13-4 run to end the half, but Winnipeg still held a 48-45 lead going into halftime. Vancouver came out of the locker room firing, connecting on 13 of its 18 shots in the third quarter. After registering two points in the first half, Mangas, who is averaging a league-leading five made threes per game, began to heat up with three triples as part of a 19-point quarter for the sharpshooter. Just like that, the Sea Bears were down 79-59 heading into the fourth quarter. The Bandits entered Target Score Time with a 90-78 lead. BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS Sea Bears guard Tevian Jones goes up for a dunk Wednesday against the Vancouver Bandits. 'We had some defensive breakdowns that gave him some open looks,' Taylor said of defending Mangas. 'The shot-fake side-step three that he hit (in Target Score Time), we had a different type of a post-double on, and (Emmanuel Akot) left him on the ball-side and we had a double coming from the baseline… it shouldn't have happened that way. 'The last one (Campbell) just got hung up on the screen. He was worried for the third quarter about the back door cut, where we gave up the easy basket, give them credit — he popped, wide open, made us pay.' Forward Mitch Creek supplied 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Bandits. Fellow big man Tyrese Samuel was also a force in the paint, chipping in with 16 points and seven rebounds. If any team has designs of beating the Bandits, it will have to slow down Creek, Samuel and Mangas, who have formed a big-three early on. Meanwhile, the Sea Bears have played solid basketball at times but are still trying to put it all together. Winnipeg Jets Game Days 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. 'I think it's just chemistry, cohesiveness, and obviously putting together a full 40 minutes,' said Campbell. I' think right now we're almost there, I'd say 75 (per cent), but in that 25 per cent where we're not all locked in, that's where teams are having their way with us. 'We need to change that for Saturday's game.' The Sea Bears will host the Ottawa BlackJacks (1-2) on Saturday. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. X: @jfreysam Joshua Frey-SamReporter 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. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Surge end 3-game road trip on winning note in Winnipeg
The Calgary Surge take on the Winnipeg Sea Bears Friday in Manitoba. The 2 teams play again Sunday afternoon in Calgary. (Photo: X@SeaBears)
Winnipeg Free Press
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Surge overpower Sea Bears
It reached a point where players of the Calgary Surge were more concerned about how many points they had individually rather than the lead they were building. A stats check during a 34-14 run in the third quarter should've been the last thing on players' minds, yet there they were on Friday evening. It was that kind of night for the Winnipeg Sea Bears. BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS Sea Bears forward Jaylin Williams (centre) shoots over Surge guard Jameer Nelson Jr. (right) Friday night at Canada Life Centre. While the hosts never showed any signs of waving the white flag, a 98-86 loss to the Surge before 7,475 at Canada Life Centre left the Sea Bears with questions about their extended lapses for the second game in a row. 'We knew coming in that it would be a test of us athletically. Calgary is a really athletic team. And give them credit, we played their game today,' said head coach Mike Taylor. Jameer Nelson Jr. hit the game-winning free throw to improve the Surge to 2-1 on the young season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. Winnipeg dropped to 1-1. 'It was a transition game. It was fast-paced. They drove strong at us (in) one-on-one situations. I think for our guys, we started the game a little bit slow. Like we said to them early in the game, they punched us in the mouth early, and how do we respond to that?' Taylor added. 'It took us a while to get going, the physicality and pressure defence that they played, we did not get the same quality of shots that we did, say, in the first game, and that kind of sputtered our offence a bit at times.' The Sea Bears had their moments but got in their own way more times than not. A few numbers that will jump out: outscored 22-3 in fast-break points and 58-38 in points in the paint. Jaylin Williams paced Winnipeg's offence with 21 points in 29 minutes. Meanwhile, Terry Roberts supplied a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Tevian Jones supplied 16 points. 'Nothing really surprised me much,' Williams said. 'We've been preparing for — they like to drive, they're a driving team, which we struggled with tonight and helping each other out and being there for each other. That's something that we got to improve on.' Surge guard Sean Miller-Moore led the charge for the visitors with 29 points in 38:05 of play time, both game-highs. Fellow guard Nelson Jr. chipped in with 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals. 'In the first quarter they came out very aggressive. They played very physical,' said Emmanuel Akot, who finished with 10 points and three rebounds. 'We went down, fought back, but when you create a deficit like that, it's always hard to win games, so I think we just need to start out quarters better, especially in the first and third.' The Surge held leads of 27-14, 48-47 and 81-61 at the end of each of the first three quarters. For the second game in a row, Williams scored the first basket, and the Sea Bears jumped out to an early lead. Unlike their previous contest, this one didn't last long. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Sea Bears forward Solomon Young (left) and guard Geoffrey James (right) battle for the ball with Surge forward Greg Brown III (on floor) Friday night at Canada Life Centre. The Surge offence began to cut through the Sea Bears' defence like a hot knife through butter, racking up 24 points in the paint to the host's eight and scoring 12 fast-break points to Winnipeg's zero in the opening frame. While Calgary opened the game with a 23-11 run, Winnipeg went through a dry spell on offence that lasted more than four minutes. It finally ended with a three-pointer from Solomon Young. The Sea Bears came alive in the second quarter with a unit led by Roberts and Akot. A pair of sweet buckets from Roberts and a make from long range from Akot sparked a 22-12 run for Winnipeg to open the second quarter. Things began to unravel for the hosts in the third quarter as Calgary opened the game up on a 14-0 run, which proved to be enough as Winnipeg's shots struggled to fall. Winnipeg Jets Game Days 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. Calgary entered Target Score Time with an 89-74 advantage. 'Definitely lapses,' said Akot. 'Definitely got to work on that. Last game, giving up a big lead, and this game, giving them a big lead. We're still a new team. We've only been together for a short period of time, so we learn from this as the season continues to go on. We just keep getting better. Yeah, a learning experience.' Winnipeg was still without standout centre Simi Shittu, who remains with Promitheas Patras of the Greek Basketball League. The Sea Bears and Surge will complete the second of a home-and-home in Calgary on Sunday (3 p.m. CT). Joshua Frey-SamReporter 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. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. 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. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hamilton Spectator
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Little Brothers experience Big League Fun Thanks to Winnipeg Sea Bears
For a group of children from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Plains, last Friday night was one they won't soon forget, thanks to an exciting evening court-side at the Winnipeg Sea Bears season opener. The outing was organized by the local agency's mentoring coordinator, Laura, who reached out to the Sea Bears basketball team to request tickets. The organization, a part of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) responded generously, offering free admission for several children and accompanying staff. 'It was mainly kids from our waiting list — kids who are still waiting to be matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister,' said Dawn Froese, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Plains. 'We want to give them opportunities to experience new things while they wait, and this was a perfect chance.' About six youth attended the game, most of whom had never been to a live sporting event. 'Just going to the city was exciting for some of them,' Froese said. 'Going and watching a game and everything that's happening, they were really excited and really enjoyed the game.' The Sea Bears, who were facing off against the Edmonton Stingers, clinched a narrow victory by just three points with a score of 92-89. 'We were all on the edge of our seats until the last moment,' Froese recalled. One of the youngest attendees, Little Brother Colton, gave the evening a perfect score. 'On a scale of 1 to 10, he said it was an 11,' said Froese. She notes it was the first time he'd been to a sporting event. Froese explained that being on the Big Brothers Big Sisters waiting list means children have already gone through the agency's intake process and are actively engaged with staff. While they await a match with a volunteer mentor, they're invited to take part in activities that encourage learning, personal growth, and simply having fun. Finding a suitable match, especially for boys, can sometimes take years, as the agency aims to pair children and volunteers based on shared interests and compatible personalities. Froese said the organization did take kids to a Sea Bears game previously about two years ago. For now, outings like the Sea Bears game help keep children engaged and feeling supported while they wait for that one-on-one mentorship to begin, Froese said. 'We try and find other activities that they could be involved with that would help their growth or that might just expand possibilities, something they've never seen or tried before.' To find out more, or how to become involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, check out their website: — Renée Lilley is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Portage Graphic. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
