Beijing Royal Fighter's head coach Stephon Marbury instructs during the 42nd round match between Zhejiang Golden Bulls and Beijing Royal Fighters at the 2020-2021 season of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league in Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang province, March 7, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
ZHUJI, China - The Zhejiang Golden Bulls held off the Beijing Royal Fighters 100-93 to taste their third consecutive victory, while the Tianjin Pioneers escaped from the bottom position after going past the Shanxi Loongs 103-98 and bringing an eight-match skid to a halt in the CBA league here on Sunday.
After Joseph Young missed a game-tying 3-pointer, Wu Qian and Zhu Xuhang converted all four free throws to secure Zhejiang's win.
Six Zhejiang players scored in double figures, led by Wu's 17. Nicholas Rakocevic contributed a double-double of 16 points and 16 boards.
Zhejiang picked up the pace in the match. Bolstered by Zhang Dayu's eight points, they jumped to a 16-7 lead. However, with both sides dispatching bench players, Beijing made the most of their opponents' successive mistakes to come back and knot the score at 24-24 through a 10-1 late run as the first quarter expired.
Beijing turned the tides through consecutive three-point plays from Wang Shaojie and Zhang Fan, but Zhejiang responded quickly by hitting 3-pointers from Zhu and Cheng Shuaipeng before going ahead 50-46 at halftime.
Young rediscovered his touch in the second half, bagging nine points in the third quarter, but Zhejiang maintained their four-point advantage after three quarters.
However, Beijing failed to make field goals for over six minutes and saw the gap widened to eight points. Despite newly-recruited Zou Yuchen and Wang combining to score six points in a row, Beijing didn't complete a comeback as Young's shot from 3-point range fell short.
Young finished with a game-high 19 points while shooting 8 of 18. Wang and Zhang added 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Shanxi owned a one-point halftime advantage, but Tianjin rode on an 8-0 scoring run early in the third quarter to turn around, before leading 84-77 going into the final frame.
Clarence Trotter hit a clutch layup and made a pair of free throws for Tianjin. A five-point deficit with 4.8 seconds left to play meant Shanxi's chance of a rally slip away.
Tianjin jumped from 19th place to 16th on standings. Meng Zikai led their charge with 24 points. Lin Tingqian and Shi Deshuai chipped in 17 points apiece.
Shanxi had a four-game winning streak ended. Jamaal Franklin finished with 24 points. Yuan Shuai helped with 17.
Last season's finalists, the Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Liaoning Flying Leopards, who lead the standings, will once again put on a much-awaited duel on Monday. Guangdong won the first encounter this season 118-115 on Feb 3.
