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An explosion of cheers erupted at Canada Life Centre Saturday evening as Winnipegger Simon Hildebrandt hit the shot of a lifetime.
Hildebrandt’s three-pointer won the Winnipeg Sea Bears their first-ever Canadian Elite Basketball League championship. Confetti exploded into the air and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” played over the speakers as fans and players celebrated the 98-84 win.
“It was super random,” said Hildebrandt after the game.
“I had no thoughts, no emotions, it all kind of went blank and then [we] started celebrating.”
The 2026 campaign was Winnipeg’s fourth CEBL season.
When the team played its first game in 2023, the game-winning basket was scored by the late Chad Posthumus, who was also a Winnipegger.
On Saturday, it was only right that another hooper from the Manitoba capital helped put a bow on the team’s championship run.
“Chad, even though he’s not with us today, he still means so much to this organization, so much to the city,” said Hildebrandt.
He also reflected on Posthumus scoring the game-winner in the team’s first game.
“I remember when he hit that first target score winner and how special that moment was for everybody around and everybody involved,” he said. “So to be compared to that, to hit the last one today, it’s special.”
Sea Bears head coach Mike Raimbault — who also coaches the University of Winnipeg’s men’s basketball team — shared a moment with Posthumus’s parents in the postgame celebration.
“His dad got to go up the ladder and cut down a piece of the net,” said Raimbault.
“I think if Chad was watching the game and could handpick who’s going to hit the game-winning basket, I think it would be Simon.”
Sea Bears go from no playoff wins to league title
As the celebration went on, Sea Bears guard Xavier Moon rushed over to the scorers table, threw up his hands and soaked in an ovation from the crowd at the end of his first season in Winnipeg.
Moon scored a game-high 29 points in Saturday’s contest and was named the CEBL’s finals MVP.
A lot of weight had been added to the three-time league MVP’s shoulders in recent weeks, as Teddy Allen — a finalist for the league’s MVP award this year — was forced out of the playoffs after he was assaulted at a downtown Winnipeg nightclub at the beginning of August.
Days later, the Sea Bears announced Emmanuel Akot and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. were leaving for overseas opportunities.
Down three players from their starting lineup, Winnipeg marched through the playoffs with wins over the Saskatchewan Mamba and Vancouver Bandits. Then their focus shifted to the Brampton Honey Badgers, for what was supposed to be the league’s first-ever best-of-three championship series.
The first game — and the series — lasted less than two minutes.
The league reverted to a one-game winner take all showdown after it was deemed the court at the CAA Centre in Brampton was unplayable. The CEBL said in a statement at the time condensation on the court made the playing surface unsafe for competition and the first game was cancelled.
The best-of-three-series wouldn’t be able to be completed in the scheduled window, the league said, so the championship was condensed to one game.
Speaking to reporters Saturday, Moon, who previously won CEBL gold with the Edmonton Stingers, said this title meant more.
“To do it in a city that has never won a playoff game, I think it means a lot more,” he said. “I think it means a lot more than the first one.”
Sea Bears set new single-game attendance record
Besides the excitement of winning a championship on home court Saturday, the Sea Bears also drew 12,519 fans to downtown Winnipeg on a Saturday afternoon in mid-August. The attendance total broke the previous league record of 12,327 set by the Calgary Surge in 2024.
“To see what happened when Simon hit that bucket today, validates all the hard work,” said Sea Bears chair and owner David Asper. “People are coming downtown and supporting us, and it’s great.”
Meanwhile, Hildebrandt hopes young basketball players from the Manitoba capital who watched Saturday’s game see what could be possible for them.
“A lot of guys who played their high school basketball in Winnipeg, a lot of guys … went to local universities here,” he said.
“Now they get a chance to showcase their skills on the biggest stage in Canada. I think it just shows that if you keep working, you can do it from Winnipeg.”
The Winnipeg Sea Bears won the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s championship on home court Saturday at the Canada Life Centre. It’s the franchise’s first league title.
