ZHUJI, China, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- With five players scoring double-digits, the Beijing Ducks rode a dominant first half to crush the Jiangsu Dragons 120-91 in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Saturday.

Jonathan Gibson shot eight of 12 from the floor to finish with a team-high 24 points and four assists. Dezmine Wells of Jiangsu notched a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Beijing set the tone for the game from the very beginning, with nine players having scored on ten assists in the first quarter.

Gibson shined to score 11 points to gift Beijing a 38-22 lead in the first quarter.

As Beijing players continued their hot hands in the second quarter, they ended the first half 79-44, with a 66.6% field-goal percentage at halftime.

With more players getting on the scoreboard, Beijing expanded the lead to over 40 points in the next half, giving Jiangsu no hope of turning the table.

Fan Ziming got 16 points and eight rebounds, while Zhai Xiaochuan added 14 points and ten rebounds for Beijing. Bench player Huang Rongqi contributed 17 points for Jiangsu.

"We had a bad performance in the first half as we played with a low morale facing the rivals' fierce offense, but our defense was much better in the second half," Jiangsu head coach Li Nan said, adding that the young players should learn how to rise from setbacks in a game.

"We set the tone in the beginning of the game and locked the win with solid team defense, but the real battle will come two days later when we will play against Liaoning, the current leader of the league," said Zhou Yixiang of Beijing. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)