BEIJING - Stephon Marbury dominated the second half to help defending champions Beijing Ducks rally past Shanghai Sharks 101-88 in Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) League on Friday.
Marbury scored 28 of his 38 points after the break to fuel Beijing, who overcame a slow start to lead by as many as 15 points in the final quarter.Randolph Morris had 21 points and 6 rebounds and Zhai Xiaochuan added 20 points and 10 rebounds.
"We made a great second half comeback despite the struggling time at the beginning, Stephon and Zhai are fairly confident to win the match, I hope they can keep in shape." said Beijing' s coach Min Lulei.
Without captain Liu Wei and former NBA superstar Gilbert Arenas, Shanghai set a quick tone 12-3 when D.J. White opened with a scoring spree.
Beijing tried to mount a rally in the second quarter but they couldn't get any closer and trailed 40-47 at the half.
Marbury led the defending champion to find the attack rhyme through the fourth quarter. He broke down defenders and hitting a pair of 3-pointers that gave Beijing a 94-79 lead with 4 minutes left.
Thanks to all-Chinese squad, Guangdong Hongyuan took revenge on Xinjiang Guanghui 102-98 on Friday night. Yi Jianlan had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu scored 24 points and 21 points respectively.
In the final quarter, Guangdong put Terrence Williams and Ike Diogu on the bench all the time, these two former NBA players each scored only 2 points in the whole match.
"I just want to warn them (Williams and Diogu), I hope them can understand how to play with other teammates." Guangdong' s coach Li Chunjiang said.
In Friday's other games, Liaoning Hengye beat Jilin Northeast Tigers 100-96, Zhejiang Chouzhou beat Zhejiang Guangsha, 103-91, Dongguan Marco Polo beat Shanxi Zhongyu, 122-102, Bayi Fubang beat Tianjin Ronggang 98-89, Shandong Gold beat Foshan Long Lions 106-87, Fujian SBS beat Qingdao Doublestar 104-92.