Beijing, March 18 (IANS) The Guangdong Southern Tigers crushed the Sichuan Blue Whales 104-92, while the Shenzhen Leopards prevailed over the Fujian Sturgeons 103-94 in the 2023-24 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league regular season on Sunday.

Guangdong started strong with Clarence Weems scoring the first three-pointer of the game. Sichuan's Chris Obekpa and Hu Junlin soon followed up with accurate shots and heralded tit-for-tat offensives, closing the gap to 35-32 as the first quarter concluded, reported Xinhua.

Guangdong intensified their shots in the second quarter with Xu Jie, Ma Yuqi, and Hu Mingxuan pouring in three-pointers, leading a jaw-dropping 17-0 run. The Sichuan players never recovered from this flurry of blows, as their shots started missing. With a 20-point gap at halftime, the Blue Whales lost their fighting spirit and handed Guangdong a landslide victory in the rest of the see-sawing game.

Ma Yuqi scored 19 points for Guangdong, followed by 16 from Jordan Bell and 14 from Zhang Mingchi. On the Sichuan side, Wang Xinkai pocketed 22 points, with Venkatesh Joyce scoring a "double-double" of 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Another fixture on Sunday witnessed fierce competition between the Fujian Sturgeons and the Shenzhen Leopards.

Led by Zou Yang's three-pointers, the Sturgeons charged fearlessly against Shenzhen's defense and built a 5-point advantage before the last quarter started. To their surprise, the 7-0 run led by He Xining and Gu Quan snuffed out their winning hope. With the frustrated Sturgeons missing their shots, Shenzhen sealed the game at 103-94.

Also on Sunday, the Zhejiang Lions defeated the Shandong Heroes 107-104, the Beijing Royal Fighters edged the Beijing Ducks 95-93, the Liaoning Flying Leopards pocketed a close win over the Tianjin Pioneers 103-96, and the Jiangsu Dragons cruised past the Ningbo Rockets 113-87.