Christmas cheer in city as Sharks edge Ducks
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Shanghai Daily, December 26, 2011
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Players of Shanghai Sharks celebrate victory in a CBA game between Shanghai and Beijing on Dec. 25, 2011. |
The Shanghai Sharks pulled off a Christmas Day miracle yesterday, upsetting the top-ranked Beijing Ducks 96-87 in front of a raucous crowd in Santa hats.
Shanghai has now won five out of its last six games while Beijing dropped its second game in a row after winning its first 13.
Mike Harris sparked a final fourth quarter comeback with a thunderous slam and guard Meng Lingyuan gave the Sharks the lead with an acrobatic fastbreak layup with two minutes left to send the Shanghai crowd into a festive frenzy.
In the final minutes, the Shark defense frustrated former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury into misses and mistakes, as Beijing lost control of the lead and the game. A Ryan Forehan-Kelly three pointer that hit nothing but net sealed the victory.
Beijing held a 47-39 halftime lead, but the Sharks launched a 18-5 run to start the third. Harris attacked the basket and put up 13 points in the quarter while Zhang Zhaoxu set the tone on defense with two powerful swats.
By the end of the third quarter it looked like Beijing had taken back control with its physical center Randolph Morris. But Shanghai guard Feng Tian came through with an improbable three. He then converted a transition layup to shorten the lead to two and set up an exciting fourth quarter.
Forehan-Kelly ended the game with 25 points and three 3 pointers, Harris had 21 and 13 rebounds and Zhang had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Morris led Beijing with 26 points and Marbury struggled with just 15 points and 5 assists.
Shanghai head coach Daneil Panggio said that his team was starting to turn the corner.
"I'm really proud of my team," he said. "I think they keep working and getting better, and they're really starting to believe in themselves."
The Sharks had a good start to the game with a balanced inside and outside attack getting 7 points from both Forehan-Kelly and Zhang in the first quarter to take a four point lead.
In the second quarter, the Shanghai offense couldn't get in sync, while Marbury was able to penetrate and find shooters Zhai Xiaochuan and Ji Zhe open for jumpers. The two combined for 24 points in the first half.
The Shanghai Sharks continue their five game homestand on Wednesday night against the Tianjin Gold Lions.
