BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- A five-point victory may seem ordinary for a CBA game, but it really means a lot for Beijing Royal Fighters.
It's a team which just had eight wins in the past 46-game season and the very team beat last season's semifinalist.
Beijing Royal Fighters delivered an impressive 9-0 spurt to beat Shenzhen Aviators 108-103 on Saturday to mark a great start of their 2019-2020 CBA season.
It's a big win for Stephon Marbury, the basketball legend who for the first time in his career to be a CBA team head coach.
It's a big win for 23-year-old rookie Wang Shaojie, the No. 1 pick in 2019 CBA Draft who played his first professional game and finished with as many as 12 points.
It's a big win for Sun Yue, a veteran guard who spent the past two years without playing any official game. He had 13 points.
It's a big win for the team, which had lost all their ten CBA meetings with Shenzhen.
Kyle Fogg dominated the game, taking home 35 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, just one rebound shy of a Triple-double.
Sani Sakakini also had a wonderful game, getting 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The first quarter saw an energetic Royal Fighters. Wang Shajie stated his scoring by making a lay-up. Shenzhen had a quick respond by finishing a string of jump shots. Shenzhen guard Pierre Jackson, who played for the Royal fighters last season, made all of his three long-range shootings in the first quarter to get the away team a 28-26 for the first quarter.
Royal Fighters fielded all of their three foreign players in the second quarter, and the host team began to take the lead. The host team finished the first half 56-55.
Royal Fighters stayed hot in the third period, broadening the lead by five points after the buzzer-beating layup from Fogg at the end of the third period.
The host team started the final quarter with a 5-0 run. Shenzhen head coach Wang Jianjun had to call a time-out after Sun Yue made his third three-pointer, only to see Royal Fighters score another four points to extend the advantage to 14 points. Jackson tried hard to get Shenzhen back into the game, and the away team cut the deficit to five points after a hook shot from Shabazz Muhammad with 1 and a half minutes left.
Royal Fighters guard Wang Zirui stood out to knock down a key three-pointer with 15 seconds left, which sealed the victory for the host team.
"We should have executed better and move the ball better at the end of the game," said Marbury.
"We won the game, but there are a lot more for us to do."
Jackson had 30 points for Shenzhen. Muhammad made 27.
The Royal Fighters will next face Shanghai Sharks.
