BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Shanxi Loongs took down the Shandong Heroes 98-80, extending their five-game winning streak, while the Zhejiang Lions cruised past the Guangzhou Loong Lions 102-79 in the 19th round of the 2024-25 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season on Thursday.
The winning Loongs entered the fray with high morale, as Ibrahima Faye and Yuan Shuai poured in a flurry of shots and secured a 14-point lead in the first quarter. However, the tenacious Heroes rallied under Chen Peidong and Zhang Xu to unleash accurate three-pointers, cutting the gap to six points before the final 12 minutes.
The last quarter witnessed tit-for-tat offenses between Shanxi and Shandong, with Shandong's Guo Kai narrowing the margin to just one point. Facing the dire situation, Shanxi called for a timeout and returned with Yuan Shuai's astonishing 11-point run in one minute, crushing the Heroes' fighting spirit and securing the top spot on the season's standings.
Shanxi's Yuan Shuai led all scorers with 30 points, while teammates Brandon Goodwin and Hamidou Diallo also reached double figures. On the Shandong side, Dallas Moore contributed 22 points, followed by Chen Peidong's 12 and Xie Zhijie's 10.
In another notable matchup, the Zhejiang Lions, rebounding from their defeat against the Shenzhen Leopards, recorded a resounding victory over the Guangzhou Loong Lions.
Barry Brown scored the first point for Zhejiang, followed by efforts from William Douglas on the Guangzhou side. The exchange of points soon halted when Zhejiang launched a fearsome 15-point run led by Brown and Zhu Junlong, with Nathan Knight and Zhao Jiaren bombarding Guangzhou's defense. Unable to recover from the heavy losses, Guangzhou trailed by 19 points in the second quarter, and Zhejiang sealed the landslide victory with Joshua Carlton's powerful dunk.
Zhejiang's Barry Brown finished as the game's top scorer with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds, and Joshua Carlton added 20 points. Tahjere McCall, William Douglas and Jiao Boqiao each scored in double digits for Guangzhou.
In other 19th-round matchups, the Beijing Royal Fighters rallied past the Ningbo Rockets 126-92, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls defeated the Sichuan Blue Whales 132-125, the Beijing Ducks surpassed the Jiangsu Dragons 112-89, the Jilin Northeast Tigers overwhelmed the Liaoning Flying Leopards 114-102, and the Shanghai Sharks edged the Shenzhen Leopards 103-99.
Elsewhere, the Guangdong Southern Tigers beat the Nanjing Monkey Kings 112-97, the Xinjiang Flying Tigers crushed the Tianjin Pioneers 104-83, and the Qingdao Eagles cruised past the Fujian Sturgeons 114-102. ■
