Beijing Ducks players celebrate after beating the Liaoning Flying Leopards 106-105 in a Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) game in Shenyang, China, December 20, 2024. /CBA
The Beijing Ducks pipped the Liaoning Flying Leopards 106-105 on the road to hand the three-time defending Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) champions a third straight defeat on Friday.
Liaoning's Kyle Fogg nailed a three-pointer for the first basket of the game. Fogg later missed a three, but Han Dejun grabbed the rebound and found the American guard again, with his second-chance effort putting the Flying Leopards ahead by six.
Han lost the ball, and Eugene German took off the other way before setting up Zeng Fanbo for a dunk, and Beijing trailed 51-43. German's long pass then found Richard Solomon, whose jam narrowed the margin to eight.
The Ducks then took the lead with a 9-0 run at the start of fourth quarter, and Chen Ying-chun's triple extended their edge to 95-87.
Wang Lanqin's three reduced the deficit to two for Liaoning, but the reigning titleholders still trailed by four with 39 seconds left. Fogg was fouled while drilling a jumper, and converted the free throw to close the gap to one for the Flying Leopards, en route to a game-high 45 points.
Down by one with just under nine seconds to go, Fogg brought the ball up the court and attempted a three-pointer that was barely blocked by Zeng. Beijing held on to win by one point and sit in third place, while Liaoning suffered its third loss in a row to drop to sixth.