Beijing Ducks beat Shanxi Loongs in OT to finish third in CBA Club Cup

The Beijing Ducks defeated the Shanxi Loongs 104-94 in overtime (OT) in the third-place game at the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Club Cup in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Friday night.

Shanxi began the first quarter with a 11-4 run. Hamidou Diallo was nearly unstoppable on the offensive end, doing everything from knocking down triples to charging the rim and drawing fouls. They led 26-18 when the quarter ended.

As Shanxi increased their advantage to 13 points at 38-25 in the second quarter, Beijing's counterattack started with improved defensive intensity, which limited the opponents' scoring to no more than two points in the following two minutes. Meanwhile, Eugene German and Fang Shuo kept making shots from downtown for Beijing, which cut their deficit to only one point at 51-50 when the first half ended.

The third quarter remained close and Shanxi stayed ahead with a small margin until the final possession. Fang blocked a shot by Yuan Shuai and then made a buzzer-beating layup in transition to place Beijing on lead 72-71.

Both teams enjoyed good shooting touch behind the arc in the fourth quarter. Fang, Yuan, German and Brandon Goodwin all made triples for the game to stay 50-50. In the final seconds, Diallo denied a winning attempt by German, dragging the battle into OT 89-89.

Beijing extended their three-pointer shooting during OT when Shanxi struggled to find reliable source of firepower. They were outscored 15-5 in the extra period and suffered a loss in the end.