ZHUJI: Liu Lipeng’s career-high 23 points helped the Xinjiang Flying Tigers beat the Sichuan Blue Whales 107-92 in the 2020-21 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Friday night.
In a lifeless first quarter, Xinjiang missed their first 8-of-9 shootings and fell behind Sichuan 23-22.
Donatas Motiejunas continued his incredible performance this season that powered Xinjiang up after the slow start, making 23 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Sichuan played without key players Su Ruoyu and Yuan Tangwen, but their confidence never wavered. Marcus Hunt’s 20 points in the second period helped them keep a one-point lead at the halftime break.
Xinjiang couldn’t get much going in the third and rookie Zhu Songwei’s highlight performance gave Sichuan a 84-79 lead into the fourth period.
Liu Lipeng got hot after that, making 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to lift Xinjiang up 95-87. Xinjiang then closed out the win when Liu hit his seventh 3-pointer.
Zhou Qi got 25 points and 13 rebounds for Xinjiang, while Hunt made 32 points for Sichuan. – Agencies
