Winnipeg Sea Bears surge to playoff spot, smash league attendance record

The Winnipeg Sea Bears capped their final regular-season home game in record-setting style Tuesday, shattering the Canadian Elite Basketball League season attendance mark and scoringa key victory that clinched a playoff spot.

Down by 13 at one point in the third quarter, the Sea Bears clawed back and then roared pastthe Calgary Surge 111-104 at Canada Life Centre, halting Calgary'sfour-game win streak.

The winning point, in target-score time, was an anti-climactic free throw, but thecrowd stoodand thundered in anticipation just the same.

The win officially eliminated the Saskatchewan Rattlers from playoff contention and secured the final post-season spot for Winnipeg.

"I wouldn't mind a little less drama. I'm not sure how long my heart can take it, but it is super fun to have all those folks in the building supporting us, and the team coming out on top is always exciting," said Sea Bears president Jason Smith.

The 111 points scored by the Sea Bears marked a franchise record, and thecrowdof11,051, which spread into part of the arena's upper deck,was thesecond-largest crowd in CEBL history.

"You can't discount the impact of having that many people out cheering for you, or cheering against you if you're Calgary last night. The crowd is not just there, they're really into it," Smith said.

"All the players mention it because they've come from all over the world here to play andfor many, these are the biggest crowds they've played for. It'sa special environment."

The Surge hold the single-game attendance record of12,327but that comes with an asterisk. The game was played in the 19,200-seat ScotiabankSaddledome, where the NHL's Calgary Flames play. The Surge typically play in a3,200-seat event centre.

"They just did kind of a one-off to kick off the season andbasically marketed itas a 'let's set the CEBL record,'" Smith said.

The Sea Bears held the mark of 10,580 until Calgary claimed it.Before that, the single-game record was 4,404 fans.

"Next year, see if we can take that record back. We feel pretty confident we can," said Smith.

He is happy to see the league's popularity soaringin other cities andthat the Winnipeg team is helping blazethat trail.

"A lot of the western teams have very strong fan support, and so some of them are talking aboutafterseeing the success we've had here, moving into a larger NHL venue," he said.

"I think that is the next step for the CEBL, is as the league continues to grow, to try to get most of the teams into the bigger venues."

Winnipegsignificantly tightened its grip on the CEBL'sregular-season attendance record this year with86,275, scorchingthe mark of54,046 it set last season.

In comparison, the Vancouver Bandits the top team in the Western Conference ownthe second-highest season total, with38,908.

"It's amazing. We're very appreciative that the city has welcomed us so openly. I will admit we had no idea or expectation that we might get to these sort of numbers in our second year," Smith said.

The team originally planned to configure the arena to seat about 4,000 and curtain off the rest.

"We're in some regards as shocked as anybody," Smith said. "It's pretty humbling."

The fans have stuck with the team, despite some rocky patches that saw a pair offour-game losing skids and the parting of ways with starguardTeddy Allen.

Allen tied the CEBL record for points in a game last season after netting 42 in a 98-93 win against the Scarborough Shooting Stars, and finished theyear as the league'ssecond-highest scorer and league MVP.

But it was his other conduct that soured the team on Allenarguing with coaches and teammates.The distractions became too much to endure, GMMike Taylor said in June, when Allen was cut loose.

Smith said it was a difficult decision because Allen was extremely popular with the fans, but the team has rebounded and gelled more as a group.

"We were nervous, I'm not going to lie. Butwe're at peace with that decision."

Allen was later picked up by Saskatchewan and made his return to Winnipeg on July 20, giving extra motivation to the home teamwhich came out victorious, endingone of itslosing streaks.

The Sea Bears currently sit in fourth place in the conference andhave two road games left in their regular season, including a rematch with the Surge in Calgary on July 25 and then against the Edmonton Stingers on July 29.

Theywould need to win both games and hope the Surge lose at least one of their final two, in order to move up into third place.

The Sea Bears haveonly ever had one other playoff game. The team finished the 2023 season in second place in the westwith a 12-8 record, then hosted the third-place Stingers, losing87-81.