The Liaoning Hunters stopped their four-game losing streak by beating the visiting Jiangsu Dragons 117-108 on December 18 in the 13th round of the CBA season.
Bian Qiang netted a season-high with 45 points, including ten three-pointers, and 5 rebounds in the win. Brown Justin, Butler Reggie, Liu Xiangtao, Zhang Qingpeng and Yue Pengfei all reached double-figures for the hunters, who have just won four of their last twelve games.
Dixon Carlos had a team-high 32 points and 8 rebounds in the loss. Zhang Cheng chipped in 21 points and center Tang Zhengdong contributed 29 points and 9 rebounds. Hu Xuefeng and Yi Li each added 10 points for the Dragons, losers of two straight games.
It was the first game and victory for the new head coach of Liaoning, Li Ge, replacing Jiang Xingquan, who resigned from the post after the Hunters' 107-105 defeat to Shanghai on Friday.
65-year-old Jiang, who had been a long-time national team coach, took over the northeast Chinese team last season. He led Liaoning to top the CBA North Conference table in the 2004-2005 season and finish fourth at the National Games in October.
However, the shortage of talented players led the team to suffer four straight defeats after 11 matches this season.
In other games of the 13th round, Shaanxi trounced Dongguan 129-105, Guangdong beat Xinjiang 104-89, Shanghai won over Jilin 111-109, Beijing upset Bayi 105-98, Shandong edged Yunnan 110-107 and Fujian lost to Henan 102-99.
(China.org.cn and CRI December 19, 2005)
