ZHUJI, China, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Askia Booker powered the Shenzhen Aviators past the Jiangsu Dragons 114-95 for its fifth straight victory at the expense of the latter's sixth consecutive defeat in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Tuesday.
Booker finished with a game-high 35 points, Gu Quan scored 20, and He Xining and Yang Linyi each had 18.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for Shenzhen, whose 17-point gap going into the fourth quarter meant a big mountain for a young Jiangsu side to climb.
Jiangsu center Devin Williams trimmed the deficit to 12 points with 10 minutes on the clock, but Shenzhen held on through 3-point attempts from Lu Yiwen and Booker. Jiangsu came no closer than 11 points afterwards.
Shenzhen came out strongly late in the opening period. Coming off the bench, Yang scored eight points in a row, including a three-pointer at the buzzer that pushed Shenzhen's lead to 16 points as the first quarter expired.
Another three-pointer from He earned Shenzhen a 21-point advantage midway through the second quarter. Jiangsu could not complete a comeback from there.
Williams led Jiangsu with 23 points and 11 boards. Dezmine Wells added 13.
Shenzhen coach Qiu Biao attributed his side's victory to high-caliber defense.
"We won through everyone's effort, especially in terms of our defense on Wells, also forcing our opponents into 28 turnovers," he commented.
Said Gu, "We played well on both ends and ball movement in the first half, but were complacent with a big advantage after the break."
Shenzhen made 16 three-pointers from 29 attempts.
"We allowed them 36 points in the first quarter, and they shot over 50 percent in three-pointers, thus making it quite difficult for us to come through, 28 turnovers were another thing to blame for the loss," acknowledged Jiangsu coach Li Nan.
Shenzhen has now concluded its 2020 campaign, while Jiangsu will challenge the Liaoning Flying Leopards on Thursday. Enditem
