The Guangsha Lions defeated the Shanxi Loongs 110-107 in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Saturday, securing their sixth straight win and locking up first place in the Chinese Basketball Association regular season, as well as the top spot in the upcoming CBA Playoffs, with three games to spare.Although Guangsha was without three starters & Sun Minghui, Hu Jinqiu, and Barry Brown & James Nunnally went off for a game-high 33 points while also grabbing five rebounds and distributing four assists to lead the Lions to victory.The first quarter was close until Guangsha put together an 11-2 run in the middle of the period, capped by three-pointers from Nunnally and Zhao Yanhao.Zhu Junlong joined Nunnally and Zhao in hitting outside jumpers in the second quarter, extending the advantage for the Lions to 14 points at 46-32, their biggest lead of the night.
Only Brandon Goodwin and Hamidou Diallo could score consistently for Shanxi, which saw its deficit grow to nine points at halftime, 60-51.Zhang Ning stepped up to share the offensive load with Goodwin and Diallo in the third quarter.
After drawing a foul while attempting a triple, he made all three free throws, leaving the Loongs just three points behind at 73-70.Nunnally then scored six straight points, however, as Guangsha reeled off a 10-4 run to push the lead back to nine points at 83-74.
Diallo was whistled for his fifth personal foul in the quarter, which ended with the visitors ahead 86-79.Zhang and Yuan Shuai both drained big triples to help Shanxi rally as the fourth quarter began.
The Loongs took a 97-95 lead after Jia Mingru nailed a mid-range jumper, but Nathan Knight reclaimed the advantage for the Lions by completing a four-point play.The visitors stayed five points ahead for much of the stretch run, despite the home side's continued efforts to chip away.
And when Zhang missed two desperation threes in the closing seconds of the game, Guangsha left Shanxi with a tight three-point victory.Saturday's other results (winners listed first):Guangdong Southern Tigers 112-92 Ningbo RocketsZhejiang Golden Bulls 118-107 Tianjin PioneersXinjiang Flying Tigers 115-86 Sichuan Blue Whales