Liaoning wins first half of CBA regular season

The league-leading Liaoning seal the victory of the first half of the CBA regular season after beating Fujian 134-104 on Sunday.

Liaoning finished the first 19 games of the season with a 18-1 record, including the wins over CBA super powers Beijing, Xijiang and Guangdong.

The two teams were pretty close in the first three periods, but the 42-22 final quarter decided the result.

Liaoning shooter He Tianju took away 29 points from Fujian's home court, including six three pointers. Lester Hudson and Deon Thompson wrapped up 30 points each. The Liaoning team made 11 turnovers through the game, while the host team almost doubled the number.

Liaoning started the game without big center Han Dejun, who averaged at least 16 points and eight rebounds in the last 18 games. Fujian took the advantage of their larger size. Fujian center Wang Zhelin dominated the painting area, helping the team to take an early lead at the beginning of the game.

Liaoning attacker Hudson found his rhythm in the later half of the first quarter, hitting a bunch of jump shots to cut the gap. Liaoning closed the first period 30-29 after a buzzer-beating layup from veteran guard Yang Ming,

Neither team was able to take any decisive lead in the next one and a half quarters, until Hudson hitting a couple of jumpers to allow 10-point lead for Liaoning.

Fujian was unable to fight back in the final quarter. Liaoning dashed away by shooting down four three pointers in a row, and closed the game with a 30-point margin.

The 2nd ranked team Guangdong beat the 3rd ranked team Guangsha 111-99 thanks to the 26 points and four assists from Will Bynum. Former NBA player Yi Jianlian finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

In Sunday's other games, Foshan defeated Xinjiang 116-101, Shanghai edged Chongqing 133-127, Shanxi overwhelmed Sichuan 120-109, Zhengjiang outnumbered Bayi 111-98, Beijing got past Dongguan 109-106, Shandong rolled over Tongxi 104-85, Qingdao smashed Tianjin 112-93, Jilin beat Jiangsu 134-120.