Liaoning Hunters had the control of the series as it stunned Jiangsu Dragons 91-82 on the road in the Game 1 of the semifinals of the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) playoffs on Friday.

 

In the other matchup, Guangdong Hongyuan crushed Dongguan MarcoPolo 122-111 to lead the best-of-five series 1-0.

 

Liaoning, which wiped off defending champion Bayi 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs, led for most of the game to have an easy victory.

 

Liu Xiangtao led Liaoning with 26 points while Olumide Oyedeji had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

 

Game 2 will be in Suzhou, Jiangsu's home court again on Sunday.

 

Lamond Murray, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds, led Guangdong to break through in the fourth quarter after it trailed 89-88 after 36 minutes.

 

The home team started the fourth quarter with a 10-4 run and extended it to 108-97 to stamp the authority.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2008)