The Shandong Golden Stars escaped with a close 99-98 win to defeat the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the 30^th round of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Sunday evening at the Shandong Arena in Jinan.

With the victory, the Golden Stars avenged their initial 104-94 loss to the Southern Tigers in the 11^th round of the regular season in November last year. It also strengthened the team's chances of finishing in the CBA's Final Eight.

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According to EuroBasket, starter Ding Yanyuhang poured in a game-high 43 points to lead the Golden Stars to another victorious battle. The Chinese player connected seven of his 11 attempts from beyond the arc region while making 14 of his 16 free shots from the foul line.

Former NBA player Jason Thompson finished the match with a double-double production of 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. American import Justin Dentmon contributed 14 points coming off the bench and local talent Wu Ke added 10 markers for the Golden Stars.

Foreign reinforcement Donald Sloan posted 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for Guangdong, which suffered its seventh lost of the season, while Zhou Peng had a team-high 25 markers. Chinese basketball superstar Yi Jianlian finished the game with 19 points while two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer was limited to just 14 points and six rebounds.

The game was considerably close from the start as the visiting team ended the opening quarter leading by five points, 29-24. The Southern Tigers put on a 19-18 run in the second period to increase their lead over the host team to six, 48-42 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Golden Stars were able to regroup and stage a 32-22 run and overtake the lead, 74-70. Guangdong rallied with a 28-25 fourth quarter burst but it was not enough to steal the game away from Shandong.

TagsShandong Golden Stars, chinese basketball association, Jason Thompson, Yi Jianlian, guangdong southern tigers