China

Guangdong ties finals on 97-57 rout

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-21 08:41

DONGGUAN, South China - Defending champion Guangdong Hongyuan vaulted back for a 97-57 thrash of Bayi Fubang on Tuesday to tie the finals series 1-1 at the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA).

Bayi Fubang's Chen Ke (R) and Guangdong Hongyuan's Yi Jianlian compete for the ball under the basket in their second game of the best-of-seven CBA final match on Guangdong's home court March 20, 2007. Guangdong ties the match 1-1 with a record 97-57 rout. [Xinhua]

Yi Jianlian led Guangdong with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Dixon Jason adding eight points and 16 rebounds when the Game 3 and Game 4 are to be played in Ningbo, home of Bayi.

The 2006-07 finals might be the last time for Yi, who has three league championships in pocket, to play in CBA as many NBA scouts were sitting courtside to watch the future NBA draft pick.

After losing the opener 94-89 on Sunday, the first time in the past four seasons for Guangdong, the home team picked up the defence for the victory, beating Bayi 48-28 on the board and holding 7-out-of-32 on the 3-pointers.

Starting without pivot Wang Zhizhi for the second straight game, Bayi saw it trailing by 10-point plus after the first quarter again, but failed to claw back after pitching Wang in the second one.

Guangdong led 34-23 before the break, the lowest halftime scoring for the arch-rivals in their 51 encounters, and the first to break up for a 30-18 third-quarter rout of its opponents.

Bayi gave up the fight as it benched most of its starters from the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Forward Li Ke was the only Bayi player who scored in double digital number at 18 points, with Wang adding nine points and eight rebounds.