The top-seeded Guangsha Lions beat three-time defending champions the Liaoning Flying Leopards 109-90 in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Playoffs in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Saturday, taking a 1-0 lead in the last-four showdown.Guangsha saw six of its players score in double-digits, including all five starters.
Barry Brown drilled four three-pointers from 10 attempts, en route to a game-high 24 points, while also distributing six assists.
The home team's star point guard, Sun Minghui, contributed 13 points before exiting in the third quarter with an ankle injury.Liaoning had just one starter, Dez Wells, reach double-figures.
But the game didn't become a foregone conclusion too quickly, because the visiting squad's bench outscored their counterparts from home side 52-31.
Kyle Fogg led the way with a team-high 20 points, while also tallying three assists and three steals.The Lions made four more three-pointers than the Flying Leopards in the first quarter, and finished the period with a 34-22 lead.
Neither side connected from downtown in the second quarter, but the hosts limited the fourth seeds to just 15 points while extending their edge to 22 points, 59-37, going into halftime.The two teams engaged in a close third quarter in which Liaoning trimmed the margin by three points, thanks in no small part to the combined efforts of Fogg and Wells.
Zhao Jiwei and Yan Shouqi continued to miss shots, however, and the reigning titleholders went into the fourth quarter facing a 19-point deficit at 84-65.Zhu Junlong scored five straight points for Guangsha early in the fourth quarter to give the hosts a 20-point advantage at 91-71.
Brown nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game in the middle of the period to keep the Lions in control, 97-72.
The Flying Leopards were not able to close the gap to less than 15 points down the stretch, and succumbed to a huge loss in the series opener.Game 2 is set for Monday in Hangzhou.