BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Defending CBA champions Guangdong Southeast Tigers overcame Beijing Ducks 93-78 here Sunday to maintain the top place on the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league regular-season standings.
Marshon Brooks had 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five steals and Yi Jianlian added 16 points and 13 rebounds as Guangdong improved to an 11-1 win-loss record.
Falling behind 50-48 in the first half, the Tigers held the Ducks to 14 points in each of the last two quarters to extend their dominance in the league while Beijing slipped to an 8-4 win-loss record.
Sonny Weems and Hu Mingxuan contributed 12 and 11 points respectively as the Tigers finished with 14 assists, compared to seven for the Ducks.
"It's always hard to play against the Ducks in Beijing. We had problems with our attack in the second quarter when we were outscored 33-19. Fortunately, we were able to come back with better defense and shaper offense in the second half and finally get the control of the game in the fourth quarter," said Guangdong head coach Du Feng.
The defending champions started well, racing to a 29-17 lead after the first quarter. The Ducks fought back strongly as Jeremy Lin made three-pointers in a row to cut the deficit to 40-38 with less than five minutes left in the second. Then Justin Hamilton made a lay-up to help Beijing overtake the lead at 46-45 and the Ducks stayed 50-48 up at the end of the first half.
The Ducks managed to enlarge their lead to 61-52 midway through the third quarter, only to find the Tigers answer with a 18-3 burst to reclaim the lead 70-64 at the end of the third quarter.
Lin shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc to finish with a team-high 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks, but was held to seven points in the second half. Hamilton added 25 points and 17 rebounds while the Ducks only shot 29-for-75 from the field and finished with 20 turnovers.
