FRIDAY SPORTS PAGE: SEA BEARS DO IT AGAIN

CEBL

Teddy Allen’s 28 points led the league-best Winnipeg Sea Bears (8-3) to a thrilling 17-point comeback in a 93-90 win over the Niagara River Lions (5-6) on Thursday night. The league’s second-best scorer (26.4 PPG) added to his growing catalogue of strong performances this season, strengthening his case as one of the front-runners for regular season MVP. The guard also added six rebounds, six assists, and three steals to go with 28 points.

Meanwhile the Ottawa BlackJacks weathered a franchise record 37 points from Saskatchewan’s Justin Wright-Foreman to win 97-86 over the Rattlers at TD Place on Thursday. It’s the third consecutive win for Ottawa as they secure their grip on first place in the Eastern Conference.

And finally with the shot clock winding down in target score time, Cat Barber got to the free throw line and nailed a pair of free throws to give the Scarborough Shooting Stars (7-5) a 91-89 win on the road against the Edmonton Stingers (5-6).

PHF

A new North American professional women’s hockey league is projected to launch in January, according to The Associated Press. The firm of Mark Walter, a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, struck a deal with the Premier Hockey Federation in what’s described as acquiring “certain assets” of the league. The PHF had been locked into a dispute with the rival Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association. Walter’s group has worked alongside the PWHPA for 14 months in a bid to launch its own league.

MLB

Vladimir Guerrero Junior looks to have put his home-field power shortage behind him. The Toronto Blue Jays slugger hit a two-run homer to help give his side a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Guerrero hit his first nine homers on the road this year but has three blasts on the team’s current nine-game homestand.

—

Kyle Schwarber homered on the game’s first pitch, Taijuan Walker won his fifth straight start and the surging Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1. Bryce Harper drove in two runs, helping the Phillies win for the 18th time in 23 games. Schwarber, the former Cub, got things started with a drive to right for his 21st homer.

—

Kyle Tucker homered and drove in five runs, Alex Bregman hit his third grand slam this season and the Houston Astros blew out Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 14-0. Houston had 18 hits, its most since September 10th, 2019, against Oakland.

—

Devin Williams struck out Starling Marte to strand the bases loaded in the ninth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Mets, dropping New York a season-high nine games under .500 at the halfway point. The 355 million dollar (US) Mets are 36-and-45 and have lost 18 of 24. New York hasn’t won a series since sweeping Philadelphia from May 30th through June 1st.

(CEBL Comms, CP)