BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Sharks extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 108-96 win at home to the Beijing Royal Fighters, while Dezmine Wells' 50 points powered the Liaoning Flying Leopards to a 115-89 victory over the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the 23rd round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league on Saturday.
Leading 64-61 at the break, Shanghai outscored Beijing 22-14 in the third quarter through power forward Kenneth Lofton's consecutive points, and never looked back from there.
It was Shanghai's longest winning streak since the 2016-17 season. Lofton, who joined the Sharks in midseason, notched a double-double of 31 points and 14 rebounds. Teammate Eric Bledsoe scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
"We came out here and executed from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. We just played well throughout the whole game, through some ups and downs, and came out with a win," Lofton said after the match.
On the Beijing side, Jared Sullinger contributed 28 points and 14 boards, and Grant Riller nailed 30 points. Apart from the two overseas players, Zhu Songwei was the only other Beijing player that managed double-digit scoring, with 12 points.
The Zhejiang Golden Bulls also got rolling, triumphing 111-101 over the Shenzhen Leopards for its ninth straight victory. Gabriel York finished with a game-high 37 points, leading six Zhejiang players scoring in double figures, with Yu Jiahao, Damian Jones, Cheng Shuaipeng and Kobi Simmons each chipping in with 13 points.
"Due to its incomplete roster at the current stage, Shenzhen didn't show its real strength today," said Zhejiang coach Wang Shilong. "But we conceded too many [21] turnovers. If we want to achieve better results and go further this season, we need to do better on these game details."
In a rematch of last season's finals between Liaoning and Xinjiang, Wells was the first to come out of the gate, scoring 16 points along with two assists for the defending champion in the first quarter, while Xinjiang had nine turnovers and trailed 33-21 as the quarter expired.
Wells continued his offensive output with 11 points early in the second quarter, and his assist to Li Huyi's layup pushed Liaoning's lead to 21 points with 7:25 left to play. Xinjiang's 7-0 run afterwards was snapped by Wells' shot from 3-point range. Liaoning went in front 60-45 at halftime, with Wells contributing 30 points.
Xinjiang pulled within 12 points at a stage, but Wells responded with five points in a row to steady the ship. The American swingman added another 17 points in the third quarter to put Liaoning ahead 92-74 heading into the final frame en route to a comfortable win.
Wells shot 17 of 31 from the field, including 11 of 19 on 3-pointers, and made all five free throws. Wang Lanqin helped with 20 points. Kyle Fogg and Han Dejun had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
In a duel between the bottom two sides, Archie Goodwin posted a big triple-double of 53 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the Jiangsu Dragons outlasted the Fujian Sturgeons 113-92, handing the latter its 14th consecutive defeat to sit rock bottom in the table with only one win so far.
Elsewhere, the Ningbo Rockets fell 121-109 to the Qingdao Eagles, the Shandong Heroes eased past the Tianjin Pioneers 121-102, the Sichuan Blue Whales edged the Guangzhou Loong Lions 99-98, the Guangdong Southern Tigers trounced the Jilin Northeast Tigers 106-65, the Beijing Ducks squeezed past the Nanjing Monkey Kings 110-109, and the Shanxi Loongs upset the leader Zhejiang Lions 107-105.
