HANGZHOU, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Barry Brown scored 23 of his game-high 46 points in the second quarter as the defending champion Zhejiang Lions beat the Shenzhen Aviators 111-102 at home in the first game of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) semifinal series on Saturday.
Brown went 18 of 31 from the field, 8 of 15 on 3-pointers, to go along with seven assists.
Sun Minghui, who returned to the last game after a three-month layoff with an ankle injury, made two late 3-pointers to secure the win. He had 12 points and eight assists. Hu Jinqiu added 20 points and eight rebounds.
"Sun's role in our team merits no words," said Zhejiang coach Wang Bo. "When he is on the court, other players will know where their opportunities are. Everybody will be ready to get his pass. After playing two matches out of a lengthy layoff, he is getting better and better."
The duel between the second- and third-ranked teams in the regular season lived up to the billing, seeing the two sides exchange scoring runs and the momentum swing back and forth.
Zhejiang led 96-81 with six minutes remaining after Sun made a 3-pointer, but Joshua Christopher almost single-handedly authored Shenzhen's comeback.
Christopher then scored nine straight points, 23 in total in the fourth quarter, but saw the hopes of a win dashed after Sun's two 3-pointers in the closing stages.
Christopher had a double-double of 31 points and 13 rebounds. Lu Pengyu and Terquavion Smith scored 20 and 16 points, respectively.
Shenzhen led 27-22 after the first quarter, before Brown delivered his scoring spree in an offense-oriented second quarter, where Zhejiang outscored the opponent 42-22 to build a 15-point halftime lead.
Brown hit three 3-pointers in a row early in the quarter, and his another shot from beyond the arc moments later moved Zhejiang ahead 41-31, its first double-digit lead of the game.
Zhejiang led by as many as 19 points midway through the third quarter, but Shenzhen used a 10-0 run to come back. Zhejiang carried a seven-point advantage entering the final quarter.
Smith, winner of the CBA's international player of the year award, limped off after driving to the basket with seven minutes to play in the third quarter, and did not return.
"We didn't hold their fast breaks in check at the start. In the second quarter, we were more focused, but they came back in the second half. We need to do better in containing their fast breaks and 3-pointers in the next game," Wang said.
"We didn't stop Brown in the second quarter, and we lost the rebounds, especially giving them many second-chance points," Shenzhen coach Zheng Yonggang noted.
Zhejiang hosts Game 2 on Monday. Enditem
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