July 5, 2024
The Montreal Alliance beat the Winnipeg Sea Bears in Verdun
Fresh off a single point defeat on the road at the hands of the Ottawa Blackjacks two nights ago, the Montreal Alliance returned home to the Verdun Auditorium to face the Winnipeg Sea Bears – a team that has been on a hot streak of late.
Montreal is now not only last place in the Eastern conference but hold the leagues worst record – and their opponent have been on an upswing of late, moving up into third in the Western conference. Furthermore, the Alliance haven’t won a game since June 16th despite coming close on several occasions.
See Also: The Scarborough Shooting Stars win streak ends in Montreal
It took the Sea Bears just ten seconds to put up the games first points but from that moment on, the Alliance dominated Winnipeg all over the court. For unknown reasons, Montreal has found far more success this season when playing against top teams than it has playing against teams, like them, that are lower down the tables. Although the Sea Bears themselves are sitting mid-pack in the Western Conference; they have been on a winning streak of late as they try pull themselves into a position to return to Montreal for Championship Weekend.
The Alliance made slick passes early on and used them to find unmarked men outside the paint and benefited from a highly accurate set of three-point throws. The first quarter was a powerful display of what the Alliance can be; as they led the Sea Bears by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and held a 32-18 advantage at the end of 10 minutes.
The second quarter was still dominated by the Alliance, who seemed to frustrate the Sea Bears into committing fouls as Montreal continued to find the space and time to launch accurate three-point throws as will. At halftime, the Montreal Alliance held a 48 to 39 lead, largely due to strong offensive plays from Chris Smith.
However, Montreal played an atrocious third quarter, scoring just three points in the first six minutes and just nine during the entire period as the Alliance again blew a first half lead, and now trailed the Sea Bears by a score of 58 to 62. All season long, the Alliance have struggled to maintain leads that they held at half-time, with the third quarter often being a lethargic period for the team.
If the Alliance can figure out this phenomenon, then surely more wins would follow at the team would climb up the standings. This is the teams third season in the CEBL, and unless something drastic happens and soon, will be their third consecutive last place finish.
It seemed Montreal still have some gas in the tank and a few tricks up their sleeves (not that basketball jerseys have sleeves…) and woke up in the final frame and reverted to the way they had started the game off – although it took some time to overcome the slight deficit they had fronted to the Sea Bears.
Ahmed Hill sank a three pointer to get his team rolling and soon they were back out in front. By the target score that was set at 80 points, the Alliance held a slender four point lead and this time were determined to hang on to it; and that is exactly what they did.
Alliance coach Derrick Alston Sr. spoke highly of Ahmed Hill, sighting his leadership on and off the court as inspirational. “All week he’s just been so positive, and in the locker room today he was amazing, just the way he was talking in the huddles, not letting the guys get down on themselves and basically refusing to lose,” Alston Sr. said.
Read More:
>> Alliance slaughtered at home by River Lions
>> Montreal Alliance take revenge on the Ottawa Blackjacks
>> Ottawa Blackjacks earn their first win in Montreal
With the win, the Alliance improve to four wins and ten losses on the season yet their chances at getting out of the leagues basement remain slim at best. No matter where the team finish, their playoff spot is the only of four that is already confirmed – as they are the Championship Weekend host for 2024.
The Alliance are next in action on Thursday when they head out on the road to play the Eastern conference leading Niagara River Lions in a match-up that is likely a preview of the Eastern playoff match come early August. That same night, the Winnipeg Sea Bears will visit the Saskatchewan Rattlers and former star Teddy Allen, who was released from the Sea Bears recently despite being their highest scoring player.
