Winnipeg Sea Bears weathered a fourth quarter run from the Bandits to win 92-85 in front of a packed house at 黑马磁力 Events Centre. Winnipeg picked up its fourth straight victory and ended Vancouver鈥檚 three-game winning streak in the process.
The trio of Terry Roberts, Jalen Harris and Simi Shittu carried the offensive load for Winnipeg with a combined 74 points in the victory.
On the other side, Aussie Mitch Creek continued his MVP-calibre start to the season with 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists before leaving the game with an injury in Target Time.
Vancouver head coach Kyle Julius voiced his frustration with losing Creek and said the team will have to evaluate its slow starts after going down by double digits in back-to-back games.
鈥淲e've had some really soft starts. I thought tonight overall we were soft. The main takeaway is that we were soft overall,鈥� Julius said.
Curtis Hollis added 14 for Vancouver with recent acquisitions James Karnik and Corey Davis Jr. contributing in just their second game of the season as well.
Karnik battled inside with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Davis Jr. was lethal from long range with 16 points and seven assists.
Davis Jr. said the Bandits did a good job of fighting back in the third and fourth quarter, but the second quarter hurt them.
鈥淲e did fight hard 鈥� we brought it back to be able to win the game 鈥� and I think that's always something you can look back on and build from. But I mean putting yourself in those types of situations is something that we have to stay away from,鈥� Davis Jr. said.
Hollis kicked off Target Score Time with a triple, but a Shittu slam and four straight points from Roberts left the Sea Bears three points from victory.
Roberts stayed hot and buried a contested wing trifecta to finish the game.
All 10 CEBL teams are back in action on Sunday, June 22, with both Vancouver and Winnipeg on the road in Alberta. The Bandits pay a visit to the Surge, while the Sea Bears face the Stingers.
