Last-season's runners-up Liaoning Hunters suffered Friday their third loss in a row with an 83-60 defeat to Xinjiang Guanghui on the road as defending champions Guangdong Dongguan Bank kept a perfect record in the new season with a 105-81 thrash over Bayi Fubang in the CBA league.
Liaoning received little help from their foreign player, Awvee Storey, who had seven points, when Xinjiang's two foreigners, Juan Mendez and Myron Allen, combined 41 points and 23 rebounds.
The home team kept Liaoning under 50 points until late of the four quarter as guard Zhang Qingpeng leading Liaoning with 15 points.
Guangdong proved a class better than Bayi, the winners of their last meeting in the Finals in the 2006-07 season, as they led as many as 89-61 after three quarters.
Every players scored with five in double digital numbers. Zhu Fangyu led Guangdong with 19 points.
The military team, Bayi, the only team that is not permitted to import foreign players in the 18-member league, struggled on the board with Li Ke scoring 21 points.
Beijing Ducks failed to conquered their first victory in the new season as they were surprised by the relegated Qingdao DoubleStars 108-100 in Qingdao.
Amal McCaskill had his best game in the league by a performance of 38 points and 13 rebounds for Qingdao, while Frans Steyn of South Africa adding 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Tianjin Rongang held down a strong comeback of Shanghai Sharks in the quarter, winning 104-101 thanks to Theron Smith's 28 points and 21 rebounds.
This was the second win for new comers Tianjin, who finished second in the 2008 National Basketball League (NBL), a second-string league to the CBA.
In Friday's other matches, Shanxi Zhongyu defeated Shannxi Yalv 111-98, Changchun Dacheng nailed down Shandong Gold 87-79, Dongguan Marco Polo cruised off Yunnan Honghe 125-101, Jiangsu Dragons overwhelmed Zhejiang Cyclones 102-91 and Fujian SBS held the home court with a 101-87 win over Zhejiang Guangsha.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2008)