Sichuan Blue Whales handed title favorites Liaoning Flying Leopards the second defeat in their best-of-seven finals showdown for the Chinese Basketball Association crown with a 109-104 victory in game number three on Wednesday. The Blue Whales now lead the series 2-1.

The Blue Whales foreign reinforcements scored a combined 80 points with 2012 NBA Developmental League Most Valuable Player Justin Dentmon pouring in a game-high 40 points along with six rebounds and six assists.

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Iranian former NBA player Hamed Haddadi produced another remarkable double-double performance of 28 points and 25 boards. Mike Harris chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for Sichuan, who outrebounded the visiting Flying Leopards 49-36 boards.

"The victory gave us more confidence," Sichuan head coach Yang Xuezeng said. "But I still think that Liaoning is a better team than us and we should be prepared for the upcoming matches."

Sichuan Chinese forwards Zhang Chunjun and Meng Da finished the game with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

"We gave our opponent too much free-throws," head coach Guo Shiqiang, who guided Liaoning to a top 31-7 finish in the regular season, said. "And they outrebounded us. Our players tried their best but they still got lots of pressure."

The hosts made 29 of the 36 free throws awarded for an impressive 80.6 percent shooting accuracy, while the Flying Leopards had only 14 and and scored nine points from the foul line.

Sichuan closed the first half of the match leading with 54-49. They were able to hold on to their lead and even extended the gap by limiting Liaoning to just 22 points while they scored 25 points in the third quarter to close the period 79-71.

In the final twelve minutes of the game, the Blue Whales maintained control of the game and held the Flying Leopards to just 33-point production as they produced 30 points in the last quarter of the game number three of the series.

Tagscba finals, CBA 2016, Sichuan Blue Whales, Liaoning Flying Leopards, Hamed Haddadi, justin dentmon, Lester Hudson