Liaoning Hunters had the control of the series as it stunned
Jiangsu Dragons 91-82 on the road in the Game 1 of the semifinals
of the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) playoffs on
Friday.
In the other matchup, Guangdong Hongyuan crushed Dongguan
MarcoPolo 122-111 to lead the best-of-five series 1-0.
Liaoning, which wiped off defending champion Bayi 3-1 in the
first round of the playoffs, led for most of the game to have an
easy victory.
Liu Xiangtao led Liaoning with 26 points while Olumide Oyedeji
had 22 points and 15 rebounds.
Game 2 will be in Suzhou, Jiangsu's home court again on
Sunday.
Lamond Murray, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds, led Guangdong
to break through in the fourth quarter after it trailed 89-88 after
36 minutes.
The home team started the fourth quarter with a 10-4 run and
extended it to 108-97 to stamp the authority.
(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2008)