Leaders of the domestic basketball CBA League have fell victim to lower placed teams during the 42nd round while Shandong-Shaanxi tie marred by dispute.

 

Defending champions Guangdong suffered a 101-98 loss while visiting Fujian. This is only their fifth loss this season.

 

North Conference leaders Beijing were embarrassed at home. The young Liaoning team breached Beijing's solid defenses with a 113-110 away victory.

 

Another traditional powerhouse, Bayi, stretched their recent sluggish away record to four games in a row after they fell to Jiangsu, 103-95.

 

Jiangsu, meanwhile, had their winning streak extended to four.

 

In a decisive match for the fifth position of the North Conference, Shandong beat visiting Shaanxi, 110-107, to take the lead. However, the match was marred by a four-minute pause in the third quarter after Shaanxi's head coach called his players off the court in protest against the referee's judgment calls.

 

(CRI March 11, 2006)