ZHUJI, China, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Ducks defeated the Shanghai Sharks 111-97 in the 2020-21 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) here on Tuesday.

Jonathan Gibson of Beijing pocketed a game-high 39 points and nine rebounds while Jimmer Fredette got 32 points and seven rebounds for Shanghai.

Shanghai once led 19-17 but was soon overtaken by Beijing from a Fang Shuo three-pointer with an assist from Gibson. Beijing won the first quarter with a 27-24 advantage.

Shanghai tried hard to catch up but failed to stop Beijing from enlarging the gap to 24 points in the first half at 63-39, trailed 75-93 into the last quarter and didn't have any chances to rally in the second half.

Neven Spahija, coach of Shanghai, acknowledged that "Beijing was better than us tonight. We fought hard in the first quarter but lost strength in the second one. We had some injured players, and our performance have ups and downs. If we could keep playing like that in the second quarter, we could be better."

Simone Pianigiani, coach of Beijing, said that his players were excellent in attack and defense. Although out of energy in the last quarter, they have demonstrated their fighting spirits and hard work.

Player Fang said that "our coach told us a lot and we were actually active in attack and defense which led to our high rate of three pointers." Enditem

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