DONGGUAN, China, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Fujian Sturgeons routed the Sichuan Blue Whales 105-84, extending their winning streak to three games and kicking their opponents out of the playoff spots in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Saturday.
Despite their outstanding performance of five wins and two losses since the league's resumption, 12th-ranked Fujian is still fighting hard to secure a berth in the playoff. Sichuan has to fight even harder since it will become the fourth team to miss the playoffs with a loss.
Fujian did not have a good start, scoring only one of their first 11 attempts, while Sichuan got the upper hand pouring in three-pointers, and finished the first quarter with a 24-20 lead.
In the second quarter, Fujian beefed up its defense and surged to a 15-0 run, while Sichuan endured a four-minute scoring drought. Fujian continued its offensive onslaught and pulled out a decisive 35-15 second quarter.
Sichuan saw a glimmer of hope when they narrowed the gap to 13 points midway through the third quarter, but it was snuffed out by Fujian with a 10-0 run in the last minutes of the quarter. Fujian maintained a lead of some 20 points until the end.
"Today we came up to play hard," Fujian's Ty Lawson said. "This is a big game, first because we went back to even, 50-50. We just gotta keep going and stay focused."
Zhou Jinli, head coach of Sichuan, said it was a pity that his team lost the game despite hard efforts made by its all-domestic squad, but he would accept the loss since Fujian is undeniably a better a team.
"I will give my team a 70 percent grade on its performance since the CBA resumption," Zhou said. "I am glad that we have several young players including Jing Hanyi and Yuan Tangwen growing better in the process."
Five Sturgeons scored double-digits, with Lawson grabbing a game-high 21 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists. Fujian's center Wang Zhelin collected 14 points and 15 rebounds. Jing had a team-high 19 points for Sichuan.
Fujian is scheduled to play against Tianjin next Thursday, while Sichuan will face the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Enditem
