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A sluggish start to the Canadian Elite Basketball League regular season turned into a historic evening Friday for the Saskatoon Mamba.
Wearing green like their former namesake in the Saskatchewan Rattlers, the Mamba earned their first victory of the 2026 CEBL season 100-98 over the visiting Winnipeg Sea Bears to end a four-game slide.
“A huge sigh of relief,” said Mamba head coach Isaiah Fox.
“Obviously, it feels great. I’m really proud of the team. They have been upbeat, locked in, energized, they stayed locked in with the game plan. The really have been fighting through the struggles of being 0-4.”
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Down by six points at halftime, Saskatoon executed a second half comeback and closed the game out in the fourth quarter to pick up their first win since rebranding as the Mamba this year.
“I feel like we have just a good energy that’s come in,” said Mamba captain Tavian Dunn-Martin. “Especially with the new logos.”
Dunn-Martin led the charge with a team high 21 points in the win, while returnees Jamir Chaplin and Jaden Bediako contributed 18 and 17 points, respectively.
It was Bediako’s first game since re-joining the team after playing professionally in Mexico and said it was a complete team effort, from the players out.
“Everyone is a part of this win,” Bediako said. “The tradespeople who built the court, the people who operate the arena, (the media), the fans here, the VIPs. Everyone is a part of this win.”
The Mamba came out swinging in the first quarter trailing the Sea Bears by only one point, however Winnipeg answered back in the second quarter to outscore Saskatoon 28-23 and take a 53-47 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, the Mamba began to close the gap with Jaden Bediako going inside with under seven minutes left in the third quarter to give Saskatoon a lead they would not relinquish until late in the game.
“I don’t think there was any doubt,” Fox said. “The third quarter specifically, we just played really solid defence. We had great communication, not only from the guys on the court but (also) our bench.”
Bediako wasn’t done there, as he took the harm and made good on the three-point play with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter.
With Winnipeg pressing, Dunn-Martin came up with one of his biggest shots of the game with 4:30 left in the third quarter with a three-pointer to stretch their lead to 64-60.
University of Saskatchewan Huskies star Easton Thimm showcased some nice moves before the end of the quarter with a no-look feed to Dunn-Martin who did the rest.
“Defence was a big part of that second and third quarter,” Chaplin said.
“We stopped them in transition, got back, rebounded, caused turnovers. I think defence was a very big part in the second half of the game that got us the win.”
The Mamba managed to keep enough of a gap over Winnipeg over the fourth quarter to take a 91-83 lead on the Sea Bears into target score time, however the visitors responded with an 8-0 run to begin the final period to tie the game at 91-91.
Thimm’s teammate with the Huskies Mohamed Mahadhi, who also is on the team as a CEBL development, hit a three-point shot before a jumper to land on the doorstep of victory.
Needing just two points to win the game, Dunn-Martin was fouled and sunk both of his shots at the line to secure the 100-98 win before some fireworks at the final buzzer as he and Winnipeg’s Emmanuel Akot threw the ball at each other while leaving the court.
“(Akot) told me I was going to miss the free throws,” Dunn-Martin said. “I said, ‘Just get it out of the net.’”
Mamba co-chairman and owner Jason Ribeiro was in the building for the team’s self-dubbed ‘home opener’ with a final attendance number of 1,912 fans.
While he said increasing ticket sales remains a key focus for the team long-term, they are happy with their starting point.
“Ticket sales have been steady,” Ribeiro said. “We’ve got a pretty landmark announcement about a neutral-site game next week that’s going to I think be a big driver of ticket sales as well. I will say the energy around sponsorship partnerships, engagement and apparel has been landmark.”
The Mamba will look to put together their first win streak of the CEBL season on Sunday as they continue their home stand against the Scarborough Shooting Stars.
Saskatoon had a 14-point lead with 5:27 remaining erased in their most recent meeting against Scarborough on May 21, which has given the team plenty to think about ahead of Sunday’s rematch.
“It’s unfinished business though, a little personal matchup with someone,” Bediako said. “I think we’re going to sleep on it, get ready for it and we’re going to respect them.”
It’s a 4 p.m. tip-off on Sunday between the Mamba (1-4) and Shooting Stars (4-0) at SaskTel Centre.
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