Chaos marred the China Basketball Association's 11th round games
Wednesday night as the teams wound up their first phase
competitions.
Bayi?retreated from the court in the middle of the third
quarter when Shandong's home fans started throwing water bottles
and lighters onto the court to protest against the referee.
The score was 74-59 for the visitors, with the home side
trailing 15 points behind Bayi.
The problem was resolved five minutes later, and Bayi returned
to warm applause from the fans.
Bayi went on to win 116-105. Star center Wang Zhizhi scored 43
points and 21 rebounds.
The two teams now stand seventh and eighth in the 16-team
domestic league.
The Fujian-Shaanxi clash was dubbed the PK, or play-kill,
between the two team's university stars, Yang Chao and Liu Jiulong.
Both players domenstrated their strength in the professional
league. Yang scored 19 points and five rebounds, while Liu had 18
points and six rebounds.
However, Liu was involved in a short melee with Fujian's
international players with only seven minutes remaining. He was
awarded penalties to help his Shaanxi team to trim the gap down to
four points.
Fujian managed to pace itself and extended its lead again to win
95-88.
Also on Wednesday, the Jiangsu Dragons held on to second place
in the league after beating the Zhejiang Cyclones 102-94 for a
record of nine wins and two losses, their best opening.
Luo Zhi buried nine out of 15 three-pointers to score 33 points
for the Cyclones, but it was not enough for the away team to stay
in fourth place.
The Cyclones dropped to sixth place with a 7-4 record.
The Shanghai Sharks produced the biggest surprise of the new
season with an 8-3 record.
The Sharks, Yao Ming's former team, has had its best start this
season since Yao left for the Houston Rockets in 2002, defeating
the Jilin Northeast Tigers 120-117. Liu Wei and Jermaine Dearman
contributed 31 and 30 points each.
Shanxi Zhongyu became the last team to win this round, edging
Yunnan Honghe 101-98.
Zhongyu, who was based in Henan province last season, avoided
the bottom of the standings, sharing a 1-10 record with Honghe.
The Liaoning Hunters lost to Zhejiang Guangsha 95-85 on Tuesday,
but stayed in third place with an 8-3 record.
In other matches on Wednesday, Dongguan New Century beat
Xinjiang Guanghui 120-115.
Competitions will be adjourned to give the national team time
preparing for the December Doha Asian Games. The next phase will
start on December 22nd.
(CRI?November 2, 2006)