Shanghai Sharks upset Zhejiang Golden Bulls, end 6-game losing streak

The Shanghai Sharks beat the Zhejiang Golden Bulls 124-94 in east China's Shanghai Municipality on Friday night, putting an end to their six-game losing streak and securing their second win of the season.

The visitors began the first quarter with a 11-6 run and stayed on top until the final four minutes during Kenneth Lofton contributed eight points, two assists and one block for the home team to lead 28-25.

Lofton continued to show his offensive dominance in the second quarter and kept charging Zhejiang's paint. In order to contain him, Zhejiang invested extra defense in him, but at the cost of allowing too many offensive rebounds. As a result, they were outscored by Shanghai 39-27 in this quarter and trailed by 15 points, 67-52, before the halftime break.

Zhejiang's nightmare wasn't over in the second half as Shanghai extended their lead to 20 points, 72-52, less than two minutes into the third quarter. The visitors couldn't stop Lofton at all, watching him lead Shanghai to drive a 15-0 run, increasing the home team's lead to 99-66 and nearly depriving the game of its suspense.

Zhejiang tried different rotations in the final quarter and worked hard to come back, but the deficit was too big to wipe especially when they lacked scoring consistency. In the end, they had to left Shanghai with a loss.

Ducks shut down Royal Fighters' rally to win

The Beijing Ducks defeated the Beijing Royal Fighters 99-92 on the road in Beijing to pocket their sixth consecutive win.

The first quarter was a contest between the two sides' big men, the Ducks' Zhou Qi who scored 11 points, two rebounds and two blocks, and the Royal Fighters' Jared Sullinger who got 12 points and eight rebounds. The two matched each other at the individual level, but Zhou had better support from his teammates who put the Ducks on top 30-23.

The Royal Fighters made only one shot in the first two minutes of the second quarter when the Ducks drove a 10-2 run to extend their led to 15 points, 40-25. Though their offense improved later, they couldn't stop Zhou and Zeng Fanbo from attacking the rim with high efficiency. The home team trailed 57-44 after the first half.

The Ducks remained in control of the game until the fourth quarter when they had to deal with a scoring drought. The Royal Fighters began to rally and cut their deficit to only two points, 83-81, when Liu Xiaoyu made a layup when more than five minutes.

Chen Ying-Chun stepped up for the Ducks in the final quarter with 10 points that brought the team's advantage back to double digits and seal the victory.