Qingdao knock out Zhejiang to advance to CBA playoffs quarterfinals

The Qingdao Eagles beat the Zhejiang Golden Bulls 103-91 in Game 3 of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) first-round playoffs at home in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on Thursday, advancing to the postseason quarterfinals.

Qingdao's ace pair of Quinndary Weatherspoon and Yang Hansen showed complete dominance on the court for their side to stay in control of the contest most of the time. Weatherspoon dropped a triple-double of 24 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in addition to five steals. Yang contributed a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds plus four blocks.

The hosts built a double-digit lead in the first quarter at 24-13 and extended it to a maximum of 21 points, 69-48, in the third quarter. Though Zhejiang's Gabe York and Cheng Shuaipeng knocked down a series of triples and cut their deficit to 76-70, they fell into a scoring drought in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Moreover, the visitors' starting center Yu Jiahao was called for his fifth personal foul early in the quarter.

Weatherspoon and Yang combined to put Qingdao back onto an 18-point advantage at 101-83 with less than two minutes left, sealing the team's place in the last eight.

Zhejiang's high of 28 points came from York who missed seven of his 10 attempts from downtown. Three of his teammates scored in double digits, but none of them reached 15 points.

Qingdao will face the regular season champions the Guangsha Lions in the quarterfinals.