Sharp shooter Li Nan hit a season-high with 41 points while collecting 7 rebounds and 4 assists to lift the Bayi Rockets to a 116-100 road win over Shaanxi Kylins yesterday.
Mo Ke had 16 points and 6 boards while Wang Zhongguang chipped in 12 points for the Rockets, who have won 6 of their last 8 games.
Chen Ke and Chen Chen added 14 and 12 respectively off the bench in the win.
Moore Trey led Shaanxi with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Crump Brandon tallied 17 points. Li Dongliang, Zhang Wei and Leng Dong reached double figures for the Kylins, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Three-pointers by Leng Dong and Liang Wei gave Shaanxi a 6-2 lead in the early first quarter. But Li Nan erupted to drill 19 points, including one 3-pointer and six free throws. Bayi carried a 33-21 cushion after the stanza.
After Shaanxi trailed at 44-30, Li Nan exploded to score 9 points in the second period. Bayi Rockets were ahead at 67-42 after half and extended the edge to 33 at 96-63 after 36 minutes.
Li Nan, in 29 minutes, was 3-of-4 from the arc and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Wang Libin, head coach of Shaanxi, said after the game "Li Nan disrupted all the defense plans we had. You cannot over estimate a player like him and he is the best."
The Kylins lost four of their last seven games on the season.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao December 7, 2005)
