Wang Zhizhi saved the best for last, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bayi Rockets to their first CBA Championship in four years. They defeated reigning champions Guangdong Southern Tigers to claim an 88-83 victory and the title in Dongguan yesterday evening.

This was the military squad's eighth title, after the seven championships garnered between 1995 and 2003 before Wang expatriated himself to the Dallas Mavericks in 2002.

Wang, who returned to Bayi last summer, took seven rebounds to counteract the 22 points and 10 rebounds from Yi Jianlian, who was looking to give Guangdong their fourth consecutive championships.

"Some say The Return of the King just happened for real but it's not all about me as all the Bayi players are leading roles," said Wang, who also grabbed one block, one assist, and one steal.

Although six Guangdong players posted double-digit contributions, the Southern Tigers trailed almost throughout, the first time Bayi enjoyed such domination in the series. 

The home team took a brief lead at the beginning of the game but Bayi then embarked on a 17-4 run to close the first quarter at 17-8.

Guangdong usurped the lead twice in the following game, but let it loose soon with Bayi leading by as many as 10 points.

Li Nan, with his 14 points, scored his second three-pointer to give Bayi an 85-76 lead with 2:22 minutes to go. Victory seemed assured from that moment and the Bayi captain's fist beat the sky in victorious defiance.

"We wanted to beat them up here, in Dongguan. We didn't want to go back to Ningbo (Bayi's home court) because it's the best time to wrap up the finals on a 4-1 lead," Li said.

After a time-out, the Tigers roared their last as Zhu Fangyu and Yi Jianlian each scored a three-pointer and Yi's free-throw brought it back to 85-83 with 40 seconds to go.

Bayi's point guard Wang Zhongguang missed a three-pointer attempt but Guangdong also missed a chance to tie it or even take the lead when Greene Terrence committed a turnover with 18.3 seconds left and Bayi's win was final.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)