Stingers takedown Sea Bears 98-85 and move into third in the West
East Leads With 27
The Stingers rallied from a first-quarter deficit to defeat the Sea Bears 98-95 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre on Tuesday night and even the season series at one apiece.
Edmonton took care of business on home court by committee, with four starters--Sean East II, Keon Ambrose-Hylton, Nick Hornsby and Scottie Lindsey--combining for 77 points to push the Stingers past the Sea Bears for third place in the Western Conference.
Coming off a thrilling 98-95 victory over the Calgary Surge in Red Deer, the Stingers were looking to make it two in a row tonight against the red-hot Winnipeg Sea Bears, who were riding a four-game winning streak coming into the night.
Starting in the first quarter, Winnipeg came out of the gate hot and jumped out to a 6-2 lead early. Edmonton managed to get a run going quickly thereafter, though and took the lead at 9-8 thanks to a Scottie Lindsey three. But that was the only time Edmonton would see a lead in the quarter. Winnipeg caught fire to end the first, knocking down nine of 15 shots to enter the second quarter up 27-19.
The Stingers responded with a clutch two-pointer from Sean East II to open the quarter, which sparked a 14-point run to give Edmonton a slim 33-29 lead. The Stingers did not let off the gas; Nick Hornsby and Sean East II continued to add on the points, outscoring the Sea Bears 28-15 in the quarter to enter halftime up 47-42.
But the game wasn't over just yet. Winnipeg mounted a comeback in the early minutes of the second half to tie it 50-50. The two teams went blow for blow, with Scottie Lindsey, Sean East II and Keon Ambrose-Hylton going to work for the Stingers on offence to grab a 76-59 lead heading into the final quarter.
Edmonton kept to their game in the fourth and pushed Winnipeg into difficult shooting positions, limiting their chances to get back into the game. The Stingers' shots continued to fall in the final minutes, going into target time up 88-75. And despite a 10-point run in target time from Winnipeg, Edmonton closed out the game to win it.
While the Stingers came out of the gate slow, the team responded to get their second win in a row tonight on home court.
"These are the teams we got to beat come playoff time. So it's great to be able to show guys that if they lock in and do the right things, that we have the ability to adapt and get a win," Head Coach Jordan Baker said post-game on his team's effort after being down in the first quarter. "We're not gonna get too high [after] going up 15, and we're not gonna get too low ... But, you know they responded very well to me."
A big contributor to tonight's win was Nick Hornsby, who recorded 17 points in the win. The guard mentioned how important the team's resilience was to find a way to win against Winnipeg tonight.
"Resilience is one of our core values," Hornsby said post-game. "When everybody's bought in on a team, it's always dangerous ... We didn't start great, [but] we figured it out and stuck to what we knew."
The Stingers now slide into third in the West and improve to 4-1 in their last five, but Nick Hornsby believes the team still has more fight in them ahead of their next matchup.
"The vibes are high, but we're not satisfied. We're always longing for that next game and ready to play and ready to win."
The Stingers will continue their four-game homestand at the Edmonton EXPO Centre against the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Sunday, June 29 @ 4:00 p.m MT.