The Liaoning Hunters put an end to the Guangdong Southern Tigers'
winning streak when they staved off the Chinese Basketball
Association front-runner 87-82 in the 15th round at home on Friday.
Youngster Liu Xinagtao was the highest scorer for the home team,
draining four three-pointers for twenty points. Wang Shipeng
contributed 18 points to Guangdong and flu-affected Yi Jianlian
scored 14 points with 11 rebounds, but they could not stop their
team's first away defeat of the season.
The visiting side took the lead after Zhu Fangyu shot five
points to start the game in style. Then Liaoning rallied together
to take command with a 13-3 surge. The scores were set 29-16 in
favor of Liaoning by the end of the first quarter.
Liaoning successfully held their advantage until the final
whistle, though Guangdong managed to narrow the gap to just two
points in the third quarter.
Elsewhere in the league, the Bayi Rockets registered their
eighth consecutive win and nailed the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 96-91
after Wang Zhizhi and LI Nan shot 21 and 25 points
respectively.
Despite the defeat, Guangdong is still at the top of the
standings with 13 wins and two losses. Jiangsu and Bayi follow.
The results from the other matches were Fujian-Shandong 111-107,
Jilin-Yunnan 108-96, Shaanxi-Zhejiang 89-94, Guangsha-Shanxi 91-90,
Jiangsu-Dongguan 128-111, Shanghai-Beijing 99-90.
(CRI December 30, 2006)
