SHANGHAI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ray McCallum's failure in free throws helped the visiting Beijing Ducks beat Shanghai Sharks 88-87 in the 17th round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Saturday.
Beijing took a lead at first but Shanghai tied the score 13-13 with three minutes left in the first quarter. However, Beijing enlarged the gap again with tight defense against Shanghai's foreign player McCallum, leading five points over the host.
Thanks to Donatas Motiejunas' fierce attack and rebounds, Shanghai caught up with Beijing 40-40 in the 10th minute of the second quarter. Jeremy Lin's free throws helped the visitor end the first half with 45-41.
The third quarter witnessed a seesaw battle between the two teams at the beginning, before Beijing stretched the margin to eight points due to Motiejunas' shooting percentage getting lower.
The final quarter began with 74-66, with Shanghai striving to cut the deficit. The last ten seconds were critical for Shanghai when Beijing had a two-point advantage. McCallum successfully drew a foul but missed one free throw, locking the score trailing 88-87.
Zhai Xiaochuan and Fang Shuo contributed 18 and 16 points respectively for Beijing, while McCallum pocketed Shanghai's team-high 27 points with five rebounds and four assists.
"We did well in defense today. But we lost some points that we deserve to get in the last few attacks, causing our final failure," said Shanghai head coach Li Qiuping.
