Defending champions the Liaoning Flying Leopards claimed two victories away as they thrashed Finals debutant the Zhejiang Golden Bulls 111-93 in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Finals at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Liaoning's backcourt duo Kyle Fogg and Zhao Jiwei kept pouring in 3-pointers as usual, scoring 25 and 21 points respectively. Eric Moreland took 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Zhang Zhenlin added 19 points. 

On the Zhejiang side, Jarmar Gulley, who was obviously still affected by injury, scored eight points and suffered five turnovers in his comeback. Moses Wright had a team-high 17 points, and Yu Jiahao added 15. 

Rebounds were a key factor in Liaoning's victory. Although the Golden Bulls put 2.21m-tall center Yu on the court for 31 minutes to enhance their height in the paint, the Flying Leopards dominated rebounds 51-34, including 17 offensive ones. 36-year-old Han Dejun and 32-year-old Li Xiaoxu combined for 20 rebounds. 

Zhao, who shot seven from 10 attempts, was on fire in the first half, including a turnaround catch-and-shoot 3-pointer to beat the buzzer. Fogg saved his energy for the second half, nailing three crucial 3-pointers when Zhejiang tried to cut the deficit. 

"We executed better during the game, and we were more eager to win." Liaoning's main coach Yang Ming said after the game, "We attached great importance in controlling the ball and we restrained our opponents' 3-pointer shot percentage to around 28 percent. These are crucial to our win. We fully presented what we had prepared before."

For Zhejiang, Cheng Shuaipeng distributed more energy to defense but was still a threat offensively, scoring 14 points and dishing out six assists. Like in the semifinals and Game 1 of the Finals, sharpshooter Wu Qian was completely constrained by Liaoning as he only made three out of 11 attempts.

Zhejiang's main coach Wang Shilong admitted that his team has great improvement to catch up Liaoning peers.

"There will be wins and losses in games, and I told my team to feel the game and learn from it. We should pay more attention to details in defense and rebounds."

The next two games in the best-of-seven series will be held in Shenyang, the capital city in northeast China's Liaoning Province on May 13 and 15.

(With input from Xinhua)