Unbeaten Xinjiang defeats Liaoning for ninth straight win

BEIJING - League leader Xinjiang kept its undefeated record by easing past last season's runner-up Liaoning 115-104 in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) League on Wednesday.

Xinjiang, who missed the playoffs last season, now is the only unbeaten CBA team with nine victories in a row.

Andray Blatche had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for Xinjiang, the former L.A. Lakers' point guard Andrew Goudelock kept up his surge with 26 points. Zhouqi, the Chinese basketball rising star, finished with 21 points, 9 points and 4 blocks.

Liaoning shot out to a quick 7-point lead then Xinjiang fought back to 25-21 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Xinjiang led as many as 16 points in the third quarter but Liaoning didn't bank down and cut the gap to 100-107 with 2 minutes remaining. However, Blatche's three-point play with 55 seconds left sealed the victory for the home side.

Lester Hudson, who is the first foreign player to win two MVP trophie in CBA, scored 31 points including 7-of-12 shooting from outside the arc. Shavlik Randolph and Li Xiaoxu added 20 points and 16 points respectively.

Beijing got a third successive home win by smashing Jiangsu 105-90. The defending champion used a balanced attack that included six players with at least eight points. Randolph Morris collected 27 points and 9 rebounds, former NBA All-star Stephon Marbury nearly posted a triple-double with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists.

Jiangsu's Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft, still haven't played in this season duo to injury.

In Wednesday's other games, Shandong overwhelmed Foshan 144-107, Shenzhen crashed Bayi 104-89, Guangsha beat Beikong 111-86, Zhejiang lost to Guangdong 97-112, Shanxi edged Jilin 87-85, Sichuan beat Fujian 128-101, Shanghai downed Tianjin 99-93, Tongxi defeated Qingdao 127-117.