A one-point game in the third quarter spiraled out of control as the Vancouver Bandits fell to the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Sunday night, July 23, at Langley Events Centre

It was the fourth time in as many tries the Sea Bears defeated Vancouver, this time winning 90-79 in Canadian Elite Basketball League action.

The Bandits had been hoping to build some consistency to their game and momentum heading into the event. Unfortunately, that has been hard to come by as the loss was their eighth defeat in the past 10 games leaving them with a 6-12 record. Winnipeg improves to 12-7 as they take another step closer to clinching top spot in the Western Conference and the accompanying bye into the division semifinal game.

“There is no sugarcoating it,” Vancouver head coach and general manager Kyle Julius said.

“We have been bad. I have been bad, but we are still in the fight. We have 18 days left before that conference final game, so we have to be ready for that.”

He was referencing the fact that as the host team, Vancouver is one of the final four teams playing in Championship Weekend at Langley Events Centre next month.

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Vancouver trailed 26-17 after a period before battling back to within four at the half, 42-38. The Bandits did manage twice to pull ahead in the third quarter before the Sea Bears closed the period on a 14-2 run. They led by double digits nearly the rest of the way. The closest the Bandits got was to within seven points during Target Score time.

But Vancouver shot just 4-for-12 during that stretch, also committing three turnovers and surrendering seven offensive rebounds. For the game, the Sea Bears pulled down a whopping 18 rebounds off the offensive glass.

Nick Ward had 22 points and 14 rebounds, leading the Bandits in both categories, while Duane Notice scored 19, but they were the only two to reach double figures.

Doug Herring Jr. took his shot against Winnipeg Sunday, July 23, at Langley Events Centre. Sea Bears downed the Bandits 90-79. (Vancouver Bandits/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Bandits now embark on a two-game road trip to Ontario to close out the regular season with dates against the Ottawa BlackJacks on Thursday, July 27, and then a visit to Scarborough to face the Shooting Stars on Sunday, July 30.

Bandits will be back at Langley Events Centre on Friday, August 11, having qualified for Championship Weekend as the host team.

Vancouver will be facing one of their divisional foes in the Western Conference Final, to see which team advances to the Championship game that will be played on Sunday, August 13.

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